After Evangelion
by JaxsonJaguar
Summary: Ten years after Third Impact the UN has dispatched an international team to investigate what happened and to recover the Magi. Meanwhile Asuka and Shinji are in hiding while the ghosts of Rei & Kaworu still linger. Chapter 19 is up. Please Read & Review
1. Chapter 1

After Evangelion

Chapter 1

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

It has been ten years since third impact. Ten years since the area once known as Tokyo became a large crater, a new bay for the ocean waters to flow in. After third impact the United Nations declared that part of Japan a disaster area and closed it off to the rest of the world. For ten years the secrets of NERV and the Evangelion units have remained hidden.

Other NERV bases around the world surrendered to the local governments before third impact happened, which explains why third generation Eva units were able to attack NERV headquarters in Tokyo. A great deal of inside information was recovered from the other NERV bases but what the UN wanted was the magi, the three computers that ran NERV, Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar.

Recovering those computers was top priority. However much of the Geo front was well underwater and many believed that Central Dogma if it was even still in one piece was underwater. However there was a general theory that Akagi Ritsuko's mother must have designed some kind of preservation system for the Magi and that it was possible that they might still be in good working order despite being under water for ten years.

As for the Eva's there was little hope of finding them intact or even enough of them to even be identified as Eva's. The best case scenario was that they might find some of the armor, other than that they didn't hold out much hope. As for the only known survivors of Third Impact Ikari Shinji and Asuka Langley Sohryu, there has been an international manhunt for them ever since the area around Tokyo stabilized. To this day they still have not been found.

One year ago the UN started assembling an international team to go into Tokyo and investigate the impact zone. The team would consist of the best the world had to offer in fields of investigation. From crime scene investigators to marine archeologists, only the best were assembled for this mission.

Among the team was a twenty four year old expert in restoring old and damaged computers. Ten years ago he was one of the children. He was slated to be the eleventh child an American by the name of Markus Garrett. His parents were top ranked scientists for NERV's Nevada base before the incident with Unit 4 which took the life of his father. Not long after the incident it was decided that the next generation of Eva's would be piloted by dummy plugs and there was no more use for the children. Right before the UN took over NERV in America Markus's mother stepped down as head scientist and they ended up moving to Florida so they could start anew.

Markus though was a prodigy when it came to computers. His skills were more than just modifying them to be more powerful, but rather if something was wrong with either the software or the hardware, he could fix it. His hobby was restoring old obsolete computers. In college he studied to be a digital crime scene investigator, in other words he tracked down evidence in suspects computers. After college his first case involved recovering deleted and corrupted files from the computer of a pedophile. After that he was the go to guy for collecting evidence off of computers.

When the UN began assembling their investigation team they knew they wanted someone who had been one of the selected children but could also be an asset to them in the investigation. Markus was recommended by one of the forensic specialist who was selected early on. Through recommendations two more of the former children were selected. One was a med intern from Germany by the name of Albrecht Weinstein.

Albrecht originally hailed from Munich and early on showed promise to be a capable Eva pilot. Unfortunately he was constantly playing catch up to Germany's golden child Asuka. After Asuka was sent to Japan the German government began work on another Eva and Albrecht was next in line until like Markus he too was replaced by a dummy plug.

After being released from NERV he tried to settle into a normal life but after Third Impact the stigma of once being affiliated with the organization haunted him. He and his family soon moved into the country where they lived in a relative peace. Albrecht began to take an interest in medicine and after high school got accepted into a prestigious medical university in Berlin. Once there he excelled in all his subjects and even graduated early and was well into his internship when he got the call from a former professor of his to join the investigation team.

The final edition was a marine biologist by the name of Kelly Nakamori. She was living in San Francisco when her parents informed her that she was to be sent to Japan to be put on the short list of candidates to be the next Eva pilot. Her parents were technicians for NERV and proud of it. When word got to them that Kelly was on the short list to be a pilot they immediately said yes. Kelly however was not as pleased.

She didn't really want to fight so she got into a mind set that she would do it and get it over with as soon as possible. However not long after she arrived rumors started that the UN was planning an offensive against NERV headquarters. Most people just thought of it as mere paranoia and wild speculation, but Kelly's mother had a feeling that the rumors were true. After debating the issue with her husband Kelly's mother sent her back to America. Not long after Kelly returned to San Francisco Third impact happened.

After third impact Kelly would often just sit on the beach and stare off into the horizon as if hoping that her parents would return. One day she was with some friends visiting an aquarium and for the first time in a long time she felt at peace. She then took more of an interest and would later go to college to become a very good marine biologist.

When she received the call from a colleague about joining the UN investigation team her first instinct was to refuse. But she sat and thought about it and soon realized she had to go. If anything to learn the truth behind what happened so she could understand why her parents had to die. If anything she was looking for solace as apposed to answers.

With the multi-national investigation team set up the UN began sending ships and aircraft to Japan. The main base of operation was set up at Yokota Air Base thirty five miles from Tokyo with a field base just out side of the impact zone. Yokota was busy with cargo planes, helicopters, and trucks coming in and out dropping off and picking up supplies and personnel. The forensics team arrived from Hawaii on a military cargo/transport aircraft. After a briefing and some food the team was taken to a waiting helicopter to take them to the field base.

"Hey is it true that guy over there was once a pilot of one of these things?" One member of the team asked another as he looked over at Markus.

"Yeah that's him; poor kid god knows what those mad scientists did to him. Damn near child abuse I'd say." One team member remarked.

Markus paid them no mind, mostly because he was asleep, and he had heard it all before.

"I don't care what they did to him so long as he doesn't start flipping out once we get to the place." One team member added.

"Ladies and gentlemen we are approaching the impact zone; take a good look because I'm going to be landing soon." The pilot announced as he circled around the crater.

The impact zone was nothing more than a huge crater filled with water. Some buildings still poked out of the water. Of the surviving buildings were the apartment complex where Misato lived, and some where in the center deep under water was what use to be the geo front, and in there laid the Magi. They had slept all these years just waiting for the time to be rediscovered.

The helicopter touched down on the roof of a renovated warehouse just out side of the impact zone. The UN fixed the place up nice with all the state of the art equipment necessary for the operation. Next to it an old office building was converted into a dormitory for the members of the team.

As the members of the forensics team stepped off the helicopter they were greeted by a man in a business suit.

"WELCOME TO TOKYO GENTLMEN THE HEAD OF THE OPERATION HAS BEEN WAITING FOR YOU." The man yelled over the noise of the helicopter.

The team then proceeded to unload their bags and was led inside.

"With all do respect to Ms. Kano it has been a very long trip and my team and I would like to get to our rooms and sleep off the jet lag." A middle aged man said in tired yet composed voice.

"Of course Mr. Hurwitz but Ms. Kano insists on meeting each division of the overall team as soon as they get here. She especially wants to meet you and your forensics team." The man responded.

Gabriel Hurwitz, the premiere expert on forensics, was the hands down choice to run the forensics team. His career started as a crime scene investigator in Chicago, from there he went on to write books and give lectures on criminology and forensic sciences at various universities around the world.

"I don't understand why Ms. Kano couldn't wait till tomorrow to meet with us." Gabriel said as he started to get irritated with the whole thing.

"Don't worry Gabriel I won't keep you long." A Woman said from around a corner.

The group stopped as the woman appeared before them.

Her name was Yukino Kano, the UN head of operations for the investigation of Third Impact. She was of average height and a bit slender. She wore a black suit with a white shirt underneath, with black shoes. Her hair was done up in a tight bun with just a few strands hanging down over her glasses. She once held the position of the Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations, when they needed someone to head the investigation her name was the first to come up mostly for political reasons considering the investigation was taking place in Japan after all.

"Konichiwa Kano sama." Gabriel said as he respectfully bowed.

"_It's good to finally meet you Hurwitz Son."_ Yukino responded in Japanese.

"_Likewise, forgive me Kano Sama but me and my team are extremely tired and would like nothing more than to get some rest."_ Gabriel responded in Japanese.

Yukino studied the team and had to agree, they all did look tired but for some reason Markus had a look of determined focus in his eyes as he looked out a window at the crater.

"You must be the eleventh child, Markus Garrett." Yukino said as she walked toward him.

"Don't you mean, "Must have been,"? With all due respect Ms. Kano I am certainly not a child any more." Markus said in a calm tone that hinted at being annoyed.

"Forgive me, Mr. Garrett. I look forward to working with all of you. Maybe we'll finally figure out what the deal with NERV, the Evangelion units, the children, and perhaps even what exactly were the angels." With that Yukino bowed and went back to her office.

Her assistant, the man that met them all at the helicopter, proceeded to show them to their dorms. As they were showed their rooms many fell right to sleep. Markus, however who had been taking spot naps since they left Hawaii decided to walk around a bit. It was six in the evening, the sun was just starting to go down and cicadas were starting to give way to crickets and frogs. A cool breeze blew across the lake as Markus approached the fence that lined the crater.

The crater was several miles around; it was hard to believe that once a major city had once stood in that location. Now all that was left was water and a few damaged buildings. Not a single land mark of Tokyo's glory days existed anymore, with the exception of Mount. Fuji which still stood majestically on the horizon.

"I wouldn't recommend swimming in there." A woman said as she was jogging the fence line.

"Well that goes with out saying I mean you can still see the buildings. Hell I would be shocked to see fish." Markus answered.

"Well don't be too shocked if you see them, just take my advice and refrain from eating them." The woman replied as she came to a stop.

"Oh you just got here." The woman said as she caught her breath.

"How could you tell?" Markus said smiling.

"It's written all over your face. Yep you are hella tired." The woman replied with a cheerful demeanor."

"I'm Mark Garrett; I'm with the forensics team." Markus introduced himself.

"Kelly Nakamori, marine specialist team." Kelly said introducing herself.

"Marine specialist?" Markus asked slightly confused.

"Yeah my team consists of marine archeologists, divers, salvagers, and myself a marine biologist." She described.

"Interesting, I'm a crime scene investigator my specialty is digital forensics." Markus explained.

"Digital forensics?" Kelly replied confused.

"Basically I look for evidence that is hidden on computers. I can also repair and restore old and damaged computers." Markus added.

"Wow, sounds cool. Well I look forward to working with you, goodnight." With that Kelly ran off.

Markus took one more look out over the water and something caught his eye. He blinked to look again and it was gone.

"So this place is haunted to?" Markus thought to himself.

"I must be tired." With that Markus walked away but before he entered the dorms he took one more look out over the lake. There amidst the haze he could swear he saw what looked like a young blue haired girl over the water. He rubbed his eyes and again the image was gone.

"Yes must get sleep." He said as he walked into the dorm building.

To Be Continued.

Authors Note

Okay this is my first crack at an Eva fan fiction so I hope you all enjoy it. Also whenever I use _italics_ that means the character is speaking a different language and I'm taking the easy way out. So please read, review, and enjoy.

Authors Note


	2. Chapter 2

After Evangelion

Chapter 2

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

The day was hot. So hot in fact that an order was put out for everyone to limit electricity in the dorms and parts of the warehouse. Work was limited to office work except for work that was being done on the lake. A few sonar ships were out mapping the lake bed while other ships were busy taking water samples and testing their dive and unmanned video equipment.

"My god could it be any hotter out here?" Kelly complained as she lounged on the deck of one of the research ships.

"It's not that bad, it's actually a little cooler out here than on the shore." A man said in a light French accent as he labeled some samples.

"Sean, 2 degrees be it Celsius or Fahrenheit, does not make a difference." She responded as she fanned herself.

"Well if you are that hot, you could always strap on a tank and mask and go collect samples for me." Sean suggested as he took some notes.

"Oh no, I'm not setting foot in that water until the samples come back from the lab." She said continuing to fan herself.

"Touché my dear, touché." Sean said with a slight laugh.

Meanwhile down at the bottom of the lake an unmanned drone was creeping its way through NERV headquarters.

"_So how long will it be until we reach Terminal Dogma?_" A man asked in German.

"_It may be awhile Captain. It will be most difficult to find a direct path that isn't obstructed by either debris or plastic._" Replied the drone operators.

"_Captain, if you don't mind me asking, what are we looking for? I mean I doubt there would be any remnant of Lilith or Adam." _The First Officer asked.

"_Adam and Lilith were destroyed in third impact that is the accepted fact. Our mission is to uncover any remains of the Evangelion Units that may still be down here._" The Captain explained.

"_Captain, if that is in fact our mission, then why are we snaking our way to Terminal Dogma?_" The First Officer added.

"_We are looking for the Eva grave yard. With luck the chamber was sealed and if so we can go in and collect samples so that the German government can attempt to clone one of the original Evangelions._" The Captain explained.

"_But sir, doesn't the government already have enough data to create an Eva?_" Asked one of the officers.

"_Unit two was a cheap knock off. At the time we thought we were making a superior model but in the end the unit and her pilot were both a disappointment to the German people. Our government will not let such a disgrace happen again that is why we are after one of the originals._" The Captain said with pride.

Meanwhile over at the clinic the doctors and nurses weren't that busy. Since major operations hadn't started yet most patients they see have minor injuries at best. Needless to say it was slow. Because of this much of the clinic was without air conditioning. The only rooms with A/C were the morgue and the server room, and the kitchen. One would often find groups of people just standing out side the rooms just to cool down.

The offices were rather unbearable despite huge windows which could easily be open. The heat and humidity were doing a number on the staff's computers thus prompting some people from other teams to come in and do some repairs or modifications.

"Danke, Herr Garrett." Albrecht said as Markus finished fixing his computer.

"Don't mention it; I'm willing to do anything to keep me busy especially in this heat." Markus said as he wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I know what you mean. I mean I have experienced some hot weather back home but nothing really like this. I would imagine you would be use to it considering you have lived in some rather hot climates." Albrecht said in a thick German accent.

"Yes from the desert of Nevada, to the humid sub tropics of Florida I have felt the heat." Markus said as he sat on the window sill and took a sip of water, which was now warm.

"Yes but are you use to it?" Albrecht asked as he opened up a bottle of water.

"Well the thing is no matter where you're from you never really, "get used to the heat". It's more like you adapt to put up with it. You know honestly the climate here is a little like I'd say Virginia or middle California. Florida has got way more humidity than this." Markus described.

"I'll take your word for it." Albrecht said lifting his bottle as if he were toasting.

"So I understand you knew Asuka?" Markus asked.

"Ja, I knew Asuka. I competed against her to become the pilot of Unit two. I take it you've read her files?" Albrecht responded.

"I've read all their files, Shinji, Asuka, and Rei all three of the selected pilots. I even read a little on Touji. Thing is there wasn't much information on Ayanami Rei." Markus said as he took another sip of water.

"I noticed that too. Another thing, the information they did offer on Rei seemed very vague, as if they were trying to hide something." Albrecht added.

"What do you suppose happened to them after third impact?" Markus asked.

"Well in my opinion if they didn't die they probably ran off into hiding. You know their have been sightings of Shinji and Asuka all over Japan and in parts of Europe. I remember this one time I was driving through Ramstein and I could have sworn I saw her at a restaurant. As for Rei I am told there have been sightings all over the world. From what I hear the accounts sound more like people saw a ghost rather than a person." Albrecht replied.

"I know what you mean, not long after I first got here I was looking over the lake and in two instances I swear I saw someone out there. Now that I think about it that person did look like Rei." Markus explained.

"Maybe the heat is getting to you." Albrecht chuckled.

"Maybe, well if everything is good with your computer I'd best be going." Markus said as he collected his things.

"Dank wieder Markus, come and visit sometime when you are not on business or injured." Albrecht said as he stood up.

"Defiantly we all got to stick together right. Later Al." Markus said as he made his way to the door.

"Auf Wiedersehen." Albrecht said before going back to his work.

Markus headed back to his dorm room as he did something lingered in his head, a memory a few years back. As he entered his room he powered up his computer and brought up the files of the original children to include Nagisa Kaworu. Back in Nevada he had seen Kaworu's name on the dummy plugs, and a few years ago he had a sighting of Rei similar to the one he had when he first arrived.

"Damn, I swear the ghost of that girl is haunting me for no reason." Markus said to himself as he rubbed his eyes and stretched.

"I swear it may be easier to find Asuka and Shinji alive than to understand what the deal was with Rei and Kaworu." He continued.

He then glanced over at his watch and since there was plenty of daylight left he gathered up some water and decided to go for a hike in the surrounding mountains. He walked out to the garage and signed out a jeep, as he was about to leave he was flagged down by Kelly and Albrecht.

"You guys need a ride?" Markus asked.

"Where are you going?" Kelly asked.

"The mountains, I figured I'd do some hiking while I still have some light." Markus explained.

"Would you mind if we joined you on your little excursion in the woods?" Albrecht asked.

Markus smiled and motioned for them to hop in. It didn't take them long to run out of road at the foot of one of the surrounding mountains. As they hiked they chatted back and forth about this and that. Most of the conversations were about work and people they knew. None of them really liked to talk about their past with NERV most of the time it brought up bad memories. They soon reached a spot on the mountain where they could sit and enjoy the view of the lake.

"Wow! It's hard to believe that ten years ago this place was the sight of third impact." Kelly said as she sat down on a tree root.

"Yes so many questions so little answers." Markus responded.

"Like why no one can remember the event as it happened." Albrecht said as he took a sip of water.

"You know come to think of it I can't remember that day either. I mean I remember before and after but not the actual day itself." Markus realized.

"Weird." Kelly responded as she munched on some turkey jerky.

"I wish we knew where Asuka, Shinji, and Rei were. I have so many questions." Kelly added.

"Well I can say this from what I can remember about Asuka, she probably would see you as a rival and probably wouldn't let you get a word in. But then again you are female and she was normally friendly among her own gender." Albrecht said.

"I watched some of her training videos and actual combat videos and from what I saw Asuka was a loud little bitch, Shinji was a timid little bitch, and Rei… Rei never said much." Markus described.

"Well from that description I feel sorry for Shinji. I'll bet spending a few days with him with the impression that you are the only two people left on earth. Oh man that would have been funny to see." Kelly said laughing

"Well I tell you what I can not wait till we get the Magi, for someone like me those three computers are the holy grails." Markus explained.

The conversation was soon cut off by their cell phones. All three received text messages to get back to the lake. They all took one look at each other and made a bee line to the jeep. As they left the lookout a figure in a long hooded cloak stepped out into the clearing and looked down at the commotion on the lake. Three salvage ships were hard at work hauling something big from the bottom of the lake. As the thing got closer to the surface the wind began to pick up.

Markus, Kelly, and Albrecht soon made it to the jeep and were off in a flash. As they rounded the turns on the mountain roads they looked over at the lake to get a glimpse of what was being brought up. What ever it was it was large and it was heavy enough to cause the ships to lisp to their sides. On board the ships the crew members scrambled to keep the machines from over heating and to keep the lines from snapping.

One vessel, a Russian savage ship called "The Lost", was starting to give under the weight of the object. Her captain left the bridge down to the deck of the ship and ordered her men to attach more lines to the object even if they had to pull it up by hand. This was a woman who was not about to lose her ship to any thing.

Markus and the others pulled into the garage and after quickly signing in the jeep he joined the others on the bank of the lake. As the object got closer to the surface the wind picked up even more as if signifying something ominous was about to be unearthed. It wasn't long before the object broke the surface causing a large wave to sweep on the shore powered by now gusting winds. The figure up on the mountain stood as the wind blew back her hood causing her red hair to dance in the wind like a flame on a log.

"_Couldn't they leave her buried? What do they hope to do with a giant skull that has been sitting in the mud for ten years? It seems that some ghosts can't stay dead. Welcome back to the living word wonder girl_." Asuka said in German.

"_We may have to go deeper into hiding. In fact we should probably head back home_?" A male voice said in Japanese.

"_Not yet Shinji, I want to watch a little longer. Something doesn't feel right and I'm none to happy to see that head again_." Asuka answered in Japanese.

"_There is a possibility that nothing will come from this. Then again if they were to reappear because of this then human kind has no hope_." Shinji replied.

"_Only time will tell at this point_." Asuka said as they headed back into the mountain to a hidden shrine that they have lived in since third impact.

The old shrine was rather rundown when they initially found it but over the years they managed to fix it up and even opened it up to the public and of all the visitors they had not one suspected who the owners were. Hiding in plain sight had worked for them over the years.

Back down on the bank of the lake everyone stood in awe of the giant half human skull that was before them. This confirmed reports that after third impact there had been reports of a giant head that had been split in two, right down the center. Back in her Yukino was watching what was going on with Gabriel and the other team leaders. They all could not believe what they were able to find and yet at the same time they knew it would be found eventually.

"So Gabriel, who do you suppose that is?" Yukino asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say it was Ayanami Rei. But my line of work has taught me to with hold judgment until the lab results came back." Gabriel explained.

"There is a chance it could also be the other clone, Kaworu." One of the other team leaders suggested.

"As I said before, I with hold judgment until the lab results get back." Gabriel reiterated.

To Be Continued.

Asuka and Shinji are alive and well. One question answered, countless others to go.


	3. Chapter 3

After Evangelion

Chapter 3

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

The giant skull was eventually transported out of the lake to a temporary biological research facility set up in one of the hangers back at Yokota Air Base. There wasn't much to work with, years of being submerged in a combination of fresh and salt water and buried in mud. It was amazing that they were even able to get it to the surface. Gabriel and a few members of his forensics team were at the site collecting samples and trying to at the very least find out what the thing was. Gabriel was in an office going through the various files, doing some research on what it might be, while his team analyzed the samples. One of the files on his desk was titled Rei and was labeled, "TOP SECRET." He was just about to open when one of the members of his team knocked on his door.

"Come in." Gabriel announced.

In walked a woman of Native Hawaiian decent. She entered the office and placed some files of the team's findings on Gabriel's desk.

"So what do you have for me Nene?" Gabriel asked as he put down the Rei file.

"Professor Hurwitz, we have found something incredible here." She began.

"Don't keep me suspense here what did you guys find out?" Gabriel asked as he leaned forward.

"Well you won't believe this but the skull is in fact human. But here's the thing although we are unable to determine who it is we do know that it is more than human." She explained unable to even believe what she was saying herself.

"The fact that it is more than human goes with out saying, but please continues." Gabriel said as he looked over the findings.

"Well surprisingly we were able to determine something we never thought we could what with the amount of decay. But apparently the skull was buried under a mud slide at one point and a lot of the original tissue was preserved. The tissue we were able to analyze yielded this result blood type… Blue." She said with a tinge of fear in her voice.

"An angel." Gabriel said as he put down the file.

"Nene, I want the team to continue with the investigation and I want more tests made so that we can be sure that this was in fact an angel. I'm going to do some more research and then I'll join you." Gabriel explained.

Nene got up to leave and just as she was about to open the door Gabriel stopped her.

"Oh, Nene, not a word to this to the media. We report our findings to Ms. Kano first before we make a public statements understand." Gabriel instructed.

Nene agreed and walked out of the room. As she left Gabriel took another look at the findings and then at the Rei file. As he looked at the Rei files something disturbing caught his eye. He had always thought it was just a theory or a wild rumor but he never thought NERV actually went through with something that extreme just to advance their own ambitions and subsequently third impact. Trying to allow what he just discovered to sink in he walked over to his office window, raised the blinds and became fixated on the skull.

"You should have been destroyed long before third impact." He said as if talking to the skull it self.

Back at the lake the operation to recover the Magi was under way. Mini subs and divers all converged on and around Central Dogma. It was confirmed that the Magi were stored in air tight chambers that were almost impenetrable. The plan to extract the Magi was a daring one at that. The plan called for them to build a sealed dome around each computer so that the team could raise them up and ready them for a trip to the surface.

As a dive team took structural readings and measurements of each platform, Markus was in one of the mini-subs reading through the design plans of each Magi. He actually enjoyed reading them. He got his hands on the original design plans which read like Dr. Akagi's personal journal. Frankly he didn't want to know her as a woman and a mother, but her as a scientist was proving to be an interesting read.

"Hey get this Dr. Akagi actually inserted actual brains into the computers. Actual grey matter! Damn, that woman was a genius." Markus said slightly excited.

"It says here that the brain casing can be opened and using special connectors you can access the Magi with just a lap top. Brilliant!" Markus continued.

"Doesn't it bother you even in the slightest that she used human brains in these computers?" One of Markus's colleagues asked.

"I mean I wouldn't be surprised if one of those brains was her own." The colleague added.

"Actually according to this she did have plans to have her brain inserted into Casper if she did die. The point was to give these computers a human thought process. They are the ultimate super computers. A set of super, highly intelligent computers, which can think like a human and a machine at the same time. All and all it is damn near perfect." Markus said.

"Okay if you're done getting a hard on for the subject matter your expertise would be greatly appreciated." Another one of his colleagues commented.

"Right, right, umm… Okay, it is imperative that not a single drop of water touch those computers. Now the dome idea is sound but I'm more worried about under the dome. Considering the size of each computer before taking them out our first priority would have to be sealing any cable connections that may still be there and also if the computers are being protected in chambers it would be best to bring up the entire chamber." Markus explained as he looked out over the platforms.

"Sounds overly complicated." One colleague pointed out.

"I know but unfortunately it may have to be done that way to ensure the computers are protected during the extraction. But if you guys have any better ideas I'm open to anything." Markus added.

"You could just dome them, raise them, shrink wrap them, then attach balloons to them to raise them to the surface." The pilot of the sub suggested.

Markus and his colleagues looked at the pilot and then looked at each other. After a quick vote they all agreed on the pilots plan.

"Well ladies and gentlemen, their before us are the three wise men." Markus said as some underwater lights clicked on.

The lights showed that much of Central Dogma was still intact. With the exception of it being flooded. The Magi platforms seemed undamaged with the exception of some bullet holes. Panning up they saw where the technicians worked and just behind them the place where Commander Ikari and Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki sat and over saw the operations. Oddly enough all NERV headquarters looked like this. The mere image of this brought back memories of Markus's past back at the NERV Nevada branch.

"Dad, their never going to give me one of these so why do I got to keep training?" Asked a young Markus.

It was ten years ago and Markus was in a test plug for Unit 3 as it was going through the final test phases before it was to be shipped to Japan.

"Mark you have to keep training because there is a possibility that you could get assigned an Eva one day. If and when that day comes I'm sure you'll want to be prepared." Markus's father explained.

"I wish I could believe that, I mean I'm number eleven." Markus said as he slumped back into the seat.

"All and all Mark you have been chosen so at least try to suck it up." Markus's father replied.

"Yes sir." Markus whined.

The continued the various sync test for the next hour. The rest of the tests went well Markus was showing great promise when it came to syncing with the Eva's but this was just a test. It was far from an actual entry plug and an actual Eva. Markus emerged from the shower room in NERV sweat pants and t-shirt, as he walked out into the recreation room he looked out a window that over looked Units 3 and 4.

"Why is it that no mater how hard I wash I can't get rid of that smell of blood?" Markus thought to himself.

"Today went very well Mark. I am very impressed with how well you're able to sync with the Eva." Markus's father said as he entered the recreation room.

"Do you think I'll be able to sync with an actual Eva with the same success rate?" Markus asked as he continued to stare at the Eva's.

"Oh I'm sure you will. In fact we are getting an entry plug ready for Unit 3 and we want you to test pilot it." Markus's father said with a grin.

Markus turned around with a look of disbelief on his face.

"Really? I'll finally get to pilot an Eva?" Markus said getting excited.

"Well test pilot, but I guess it's the same thing." Markus's father said now smiling.

"Sweet! I can't wait…" Markus said with excitement as he ran up and hugged his father.

Markus always did have a good relationship with his parents. His father especially, he looked up to him because even though his father would at times be all business and be totally focused on the task at hand he always had Markus's best interest and well being in mind. He never pushed his son too hard and he always kept business and family separate. At times he almost seemed to perfect, or was that just the way Markus chose to remember him.

Back in the present Markus was laying in his bed staring at the ceiling listening to some mellow tunes play on his computer thinking back to is days with NERV. The one thing that kept coming up was the smell of blood. That smell never left him, he often found himself thinking back on the smell of blood. The smell that never washed out and haunted him constantly.

"Why did it smell like blood?" He thought to himself.

His thoughts were soon interrupted by a knock at his door.

"Who is it?" He asked.

"It's me Kelly, mind if I come in?" She asked.

"It's open." Markus informed her.

She walked in looking like she recently got out of the shower and she was wearing a grey NERV tank top and black NERV sweatpants.

"So you kept those?" Markus asked as she walked in.

"Yeah I never really grew out of them, besides they held up all these years I never could see myself throwing away a good pair of clothes you know." She explained.

"I understand I found it hard to part with some shirts over the years. So what brings you to my floor?" He asked sitting up in his bed.

"I heard you will be raising the Magi soon." She said as she took a seat in his recliner.

"Yeah we should have them out of the water next week assuming nothing goes wrong." He explained.

"Well I came to ask a favor. If you find any data regarding the raid on NERV by the UN forces will you let me know what you find?" She asked.

"Oh yeah that's right your parents were caught up in that. Okay, if I find anything you'll be the first to know ok." He said with a smile.

"Thank so much, it really means a lot to me that I find out what happened to my parents. I could care less about anything you find on NERV, The Eva's, or the Angels. All I care about is my parents." She explained.

"I'm sure something will come up. So what have you been doing?" He asked.

"Not much just taking water samples and testing the underwater plant and wild life in the area the skull was pulled up. The readings we have been getting from the plants and animals have been amazing. I'd tell you more but even my superiors don't know what to make out of the readings. What I can say is that after all the water samples we tested the entire lake is safe. I mean sure you can't drink the water because it is mostly sea water but you can swim in it, it's amazing that the water would be as clean as it is." She explained with a hint of excitement and amazement in her voice.

"Well then we might have to have a beach party some time." He said joking.

"Most defiantly. Hey I noticed that on the drive up to the hiking trail the other day I saw an old shrine, want to check it out since you got some time?" She asked.

"Well I got to help get the lab ready but I think we can head up their Thursday." He said as he checked his schedule.

"Thursday is perfect I'll meet you then." She said as she got up. They then exchanged goodnights and she went back to her room to call it a night.

Markus didn't go back to bed right away. As a soft song played on his computer he walked over to the window and looked out over the lake. A few salvage ships were out burning the midnight oil. Among them was the German vessel Zurückgewonnen or The Recovered. Unbeknownst to Markus and the rest of the investigation team the crew of the Zurückgewonnen was continuing with their mission to recover D.N.A. from one of the former Eva's in hopes that the German government could make an Eva that was superior to Unit 2.

"_Captain, we have attached the final piece of the pressure chamber. We are ready to drain the water and begin operations to enter Terminal Dogma."_ The first officer reported in German.

"_Very well, send the dive team in to get that door open."_ The Captain ordered.

The dive team was then lowered down as far as they were able. From there they navigated the hallways till they got to the unmanned drones and soon the pressure chamber that surrounded the entrance to Terminal Dogma. The dive team entered the chamber and began to drain the water. As soon as the chamber was dry and full of oxygen they began to work on the lock.

As they worked to disconnect the lock they left their dive suits on just in case the computers were wrong and Terminal Dogma was flooded. They soon disconnected the lock and opened the door. Terminal Dogma was in fact dry, so they removed their suits.

Back on the surface Markus noticed a figure making their way to the memorial that had been erected at the same spot where years ago Shinji nailed Misato's necklace to a plank of wood. The figure appeared to be carrying what looked like flowers. He thought that it was probably Kelly going to honor her parents. After a brief debate he decided to go down there and join her. He had not yet paid his respects to those who died back then and figured now was a good time as any.

Meanwhile down at Terminal Dogma the dive team slowly opened the door and entered Terminal Dogma. As they entered they passed through a cold grey room with some medical equipment and a bed, from there they entered the Room of Goth where the Rei clones were stored.

"_It reeks of death in here."_ One crewmember said as they inspected the empty chambers.

The tank that held the clones was intact and was still filled with fluids. They continued on and passed a door that was sealed shut and slightly frosted like a door to a meat locker. One member wiped the frost off the window and peered inside. Inside was a row of pods labeled "Dummy Plug". They continued on when one of them stopped in his tracks.

"_What was that? Did you hear something?"_ A crewmember asked.

"_I did not hear anything. It must be your imagination this place is creepy enough as it is."_ The lead crewmember explained.

"Who are you, why are you here?" Asked a voice in a soft tone.

"_Sir, what was that?"_ Another crewmember asked.

"_I don't like this, this place feels as if someone is here."_ Another crewmember chimed in.

"_Don't tell me you all of a sudden believe in geists? The day I start believing in haunting is the day I commit myself." _The lead crewmember stated.

They soon entered the Eva graveyard. The mere sight of all the discarded skeletons made them take a few steps back in awe.

"_Well fearless leader, where do we begin?"_ Asked the second in command with monotone sarcasm.

"_We had better report this to the Captain. We will need more men and more equipment."_ The lead crewmember suggested.

The silence was then broken by a blood-curtailing scream of terror from one of the other crewmembers.

"_GEIST! OVER THERE, A GEIST!"_ He screamed pointing at one of the graves.

Out in the graveyard standing at the edge of one of the pools was a naked, pale girl with blue hair. She slowly turned to face them.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" She asked in a soft, calm, and emotionless voice

The dive crew turned around and started to get out of the chamber. On their way out they heard a ghostly laughter emanating around them. As they passed by the chamber with the pods, one crewmember looked inside and he saw the pods starting to open and their occupants sit up like vampires rising from coffins.

They then made their way to the Room of Goth, and the once empty tank now had body parts floating in the fluids and all the heads were smiling. They quickly made their way out and back into the pressure chamber and immediately started to reseal the door. They finished resealing the door and took a moment to catch their breaths. But after a few seconds of silence they heard something pound on the door. One crewmember was sent into a frantic hysteria and accidentally hit a switch that filled the chamber with water instantly drowning the crewmembers. With that the banging stopped and silence took over.

Back on the surface Markus walked over to the memorial. As he got there he took a good long look at the figure with the flowers and froze in his tracks.

"It's you?" Markus said in disbelief.

To Be Continued.


	4. Chapter 4

After Evangelion

Chapter 4

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

"It's you?" Markus said in disbelief.

"I'm sorry do I know you?" The figure asked as he turned to face Markus.

"Probably not, but I know who you are, Suzuhara Touji. Markus said as Touji stepped into the light.

"So who are you and how do you know my name?" Touji asked as he placed the flowers at the foot of the memorial and gave a silent prayer.

"My name is Markus Garrett, I test piloted your Eva before it was sent here." Markus explained.

"Did you now? You know you must have missed something, the damn thing turned out to be an Angel." Touji said as he started to walk away.

"It was fine when I piloted it." Markus responded.

"Well it nearly killed me. Tell me why do you think it became an Angel?" Touji asked looking over his shoulder at Markus.

"My theory… It was because of the dummy plug. My father was the lead Eva technician back at Area 51 and from the beginning he didn't trust the dummy plugs. I guess we were all shown why. Unit 4 explodes and takes all of Area 51 including my father with it. While here in Japan Unit 3 turns into an Angel and nearly kills you." Markus tried to explain as he walked up to Touji.

"I guess that makes sense, either way we both were in its cockpit. So what brings you to Japan?" He asked.

"Research, I'm here as part of the UN investigation team. My job will be to repair, restart, and hack the Magi. I'm here to find answers. Why are you here?" Markus asked.

"Before third impact I was moved out of Tokyo to Lake Kisaki. My sister was to be moved also but because of her injuries it was hard to move her such a long distance so they were still prepping her when it happened. She died that day, every year I come down here and lay flowers at the memorial for her." Touji explained.

"I'm sorry, if you like I can see to it that you are included when we find things." Markus said as if offering answers could bring Touji some kind of closure.

"No thanks. I don't want to know what happened. But thank you though." Touji said as he made his way to his car.

"So what have you been doing all these years if you don't mind me asking." Markus asked as Touji opened his car door.

"I still live at Lake Kisaki, I got a wife, some kids, and business." He explained.

"May I ask what your business is?" Markus asked.

"It's a small restaurant, my wife Hikari's idea. You should stop by some time." Touji said as he got into his car.

"Oh Mark, one thing." Touji yelled out as he started to pull away.

"What is it?" Markus asked as he started to walk away.

"If you by some miracle happen to find that bastard Shinji alive, hit him for me. I'm talking don't hold back I mean break his nose, knock out a few teeth, hit him as hard as you can okay." Touji requested.

Markus laughed as he agreed to Touji's request. With that Touji drove off and Markus turned back toward the dorms deciding to bypass the memorial and go straight to bed. As he did, he heard an alarm coming from the lake. He then ran over to the edge of the lake and was soon joined by a few other bystanders.

"That's one of the salvage ships." One person yelled out.

"What the hell were they doing out on the lake at this hour?" Another person wondered.

Soon some emergency vessels were on their way to the ship. As that happened some security guards showed up to disperse the crowd. Markus figured that there was going to be a long brief about this in the morning so he decided to be on of the first to go back inside. As he made his way back to the dorms he noticed Albrecht watching the scene from his window with binoculars.

"See something interesting Al?" Markus asked.

"That is a German vessel, The Recovered." Albrecht said as he looked through his binoculars.

"You know that vessel?" Markus asked.

"I've had a few drinks with members of her crew from time to time." Albrecht explained.

"Any idea why they would be pulling a night shift?" Markus asked.

"Not a clue." Albrecht replied.

"Well I'm sure we're going to hear about it in the morning." Markus said as he shrugged.

"You've got that right mein freund." Albrecht replied.

"Well with that, goodnight Al." Markus said as he opened the door.

"Gute nacht Mark." Albrecht replied as he closed his window.

The next morning Ms. Kano was in her office with the German UN Ambassador broadcasting live on a video wall and the Captain of the Recovered. There was a long uncomfortable silence as Ms. Kano read the report of what happened. At times the Ambassador and the Captain wanted to say something but the words would not and just could not come out. Ms. Kano put down the report and brought her hands up to her face making her look like a female Ikari Gendou.

"_Ambassador Franklin, could you explain to me why your government ordered the Captain here to excavate Terminal dogma without first getting my permission to do so?"_ Ms. Kano asked in German.

"_Fraulein Kano, the we received permission from your superiors at the UN and the Japanese government to excavate Terminal Dogma to recover items that contain sensitive data essential to our national security."_ The Ambassador tried to explain.

"_Ambassador do not think for one moment that you can even remotely bullshit me. I did not get to where I am by allowing myself to be fed garbage like that by people such as your self. Several members of this man's crew testified that your government was after DNA from one of the early Eva units. Also I have been given final say on all operations that take place here. The UN saw to it that no one is above me."_ Ms. Kano said not moving an inch.

"_Captain, you can leave this room unharmed if you confirm what your crewmembers testified to. Also I would like to know if you were offered money, gifts, or were threatened."_ Ms. Kano said turning her attention to the ships Captain.

"_Me and my crew will be able to continue with the investigation of Third Impact with the current contract and immunity?" _The Captain asked.

"_Correct and I'll see to it that the families of the dive team are well compensated for their loss."_ Ms. Kano replied.

The Captain looked over at Ms. Kano, then at the German Ambassador, then back at Ms. Kano. He took a deep breath and revealed everything. He revealed how the German government offered him and his crew double what the UN offered. He told her that the German government wanted the DNA to make Eva clones in an attempt to make up for the failure that was Unit 2.

"_Captain you are dismissed."_ Ms Kano said.

The Captain thanked Ms. Kano and walked out of the room.

"_Now as for you Ambassador, I find it hard to believe that the German government wanted Eva DNA to restore national pride."_ Ms. Kano said as she leaned back in her chair.

"_Also I doubt your government is worried about another Angel attack."_ Ms. Kano added.

"_Unit 2 was the most advanced of all the mass produced Eva units. It far surpassed that which the U.S. had created. A few years ago as we began to close our Evangelion research facilities, terrorists attacked one. These were radical leftist that wanted to make sure all research involving the Eva's were destroyed."_ The Ambassador explained.

"_I've heard of this group, their numbers continue to grow and we even had to increase security due to threats by them."_ Ms. Kano added.

"_Well we thought that they destroyed everything but upon further investigation a lot of data was stolen, so much so that if they wanted to make an Eva they could, even one as great as Unit 2. However we did hold out hope that they would destroy the data that was until we received a video threat by them. Apparently they have been dealing with a rouge nation in the Middle East and are close to beginning operations."_ The Ambassador explained.

"_And since Third Impact wiped out all the spy satellites in orbit you have no idea where they are."_ Ms. Kano added.

"_Correct, it's amazing in ten years all we managed to put back in orbit were communication and G.P.S. satellites, and those were put up by private organizations. Our government as well as many others, have been able to put up the kind of money necessary to create a top of the line spy satellite."_ The Ambassador explained.

"_I see, so it was in fact a matter of national, dare I say global security."_ Ms. Kano replied.

"_In the future Ambassador, let your government know that this operation will not be taken over by any government. All operation will go through and be approved by me and only me. This discussion is over."_ Ms. Kano said as she turned of the monitor.

She then opened one of her desk drawers and pulled out a canister of prescription pills. The pills were prescribed to her to combat migraines she occasionally suffered from. She took them with some water then reclined her chair.

"Six people dead, governments undermining my authority, and international terrorists." She thought to herself.

"At least Gendou didn't have to worry about terrorists." As she said that a red light started flashing on her desk.

"Not them, not now anyone but SEELE." Ms. Kano complained as she reached under her desk and pressed a button.

The button lowered a steal shutter over her window, sealed her door shut, and removed part of her floor revealing projection monitors in the floor. Once the room was dark holographic images of the original members of SEELE minus one appeared.

"Gentlemen, no doubt you over heard my conversation with the Ambassador." Ms. Kano said as she regained her composure.

"Yes we did, the news is unsettling. The Eva's were not to be used in conventional war." SEELE 2 said.

"That is correct their soul purpose is to combat the Angels. We were going to destroy the data anyway but this group thinks other wise." SEELE 5 responded.

"Yes but how can any country just through away a weapon with the potential that the Eva's have?" SEELE 3 asked.

"Gentlemen I'm siding with the German government on this one." Ms. Kano stated.

"This group is so fanatical that I would not be surprised if they did build an Eva and used it on other countries. I believe they forced Germany's hand in this." Ms. Kano continued.

"I agree, and it is truly naive to believe that the U.S., German, and even Japanese governments would just simply destroy all data pertaining to the Evangelion units." SEELE 2 added.

"Ms. Kano we leave the situation in your hands, all information you discover is not to leave this instillation and if anything is leaked to the press we trust that you will handle it." SEELE 4 added.

"Thank you gentlemen, rest assured that I am more than capable of handling the terrorists and the media." Ms. Kano said as she stood up and bowed.

"See that you do Ms. Kano. We learned our lesson with Gendou; do not make us regret our decision of you." SEELE 2 said.

"You won't sir." Ms. Kano replied.

"Good, until next time Ms. Kano." SEELE said as the lights came one and the office went back to normal.

Meanwhile the staff was not treated with a mass briefing on the commotion that happened the night before but rater a day off and an ultimatum to not engage the press. It was though, a nice day, partly cloudy, and with a cool breeze. Markus decided to take this opportunity to go up to the roof of the dorms and play one of his instruments. Growing up he was encouraged to take up playing an instrument. His parent's suggested taking up something small and easy to travel with. His father suggested the violin and his mother suggested the acoustic guitar. He ended up doing both. He didn't prefer one to the other but he did like the guitar in that if you messed up while playing the guitar it wasn't entirely obvious. So he took his guitar and violin up to the roof and flipped a coin.

"Heads, violin it is." Markus said as he took out the violin.

He never played with a sheet of music, in fact he could hardly read music, he chose to either play by ear or make stuff up. He tuned his instrument then started playing something with an Irish style tone. As he played Albrecht and Kelly both came up tot the roof with their own instruments. Albrecht played the tenor saxophone while Kelly specialized in the flute. The quietly came onto the roof, stood and listened to Markus play. As soon as he stopped they broke out in applause.

"What do you call that piece of ear candy?" Kelly asked as she walked up to him.

"Well to be honest I was making it up as I went along, but I guess if I had to call it anything I'd call it, "Irish Sea breeze". Yeah, I wanted to play something with an Irish tone to it and while I played it I thought back to the sea breezes in Florida." Markus explained.

"So why not call it, "Florida Sea Breeze?" Albrecht asked as he pulled out his saxophone.

Markus thought about it for a second and agreed with the name change.

"So you also play guitar?" Albrecht asked.

"Yep it was my mom's idea. Hey considering what we have to work with we could probably do some jazz-fusion." Markus suggested as he put away his violin and pulled out his guitar.

"I'm game, how bout you Al?" Kelly asked as she pulled out her flute.

"You don't even have to ask, I was in a jazz-fusion band at the university." Albrecht bragged.

"Markus, I was thinking since we got today off you want to go to the shrine after lunch?" Kelly asked.

"Sure thing, you care to join us Al?" Markus asked.

"No not today, medical team only has the morning off." Albrecht said.

With that Markus led off with a soft tone, followed by Albrecht, then Kelly. They jammed for a while doing various jazz-fusion, jazz, and at times Markus would break out some American folk. Albrecht's solo was some smooth jazz; while Kelly soloed with a Japanese song her mother taught her when she first learned to play the flute.

They soon packed up their instruments and joined each other in the cafeteria for lunch. Afterward Albrecht went back to the medical offices in the warehouse while Kelly and Markus went and signed out a car from the garage. They drove for a while till they reached the shrine Kelly had spoken of. It was a modest little shrine that looked like it had undergone a lot of repair over the years.

Markus and Kelly approached the front and each tossed in a few yen, rang the bell and gave a silent prayer each. As they started to walk around the grounds they heard the sound of a cello and a violin playing. Markus ran back to the car and returned with his violin thinking those playing wouldn't mind if he joined in. As they approached the source Kelly recognized the piece as Johann Pachelbel's Kannon in D minor. Only with two instruments a violin and a cello. Kelly remembered hearing it once played with a cello, a viola, and two violins. But despite not having a second violinist and a viola player they were doing quite well.

Markus pulled out his violin and filled in the missing part. The original players noticed this and kept on playing as if to say he was welcome. As they played Kelly sat down on some steps and saw a young girl near the couple napping on the floor. As the song ended Kelly gave an enthusiastic applause.

"_That was so beautiful! Thank you for allowing my friend to join in. Have you been playing long?"_ Kelly said enthusiastically in Japanese.

"_I'm glad you enjoyed it, me and my wife don't get very many visitors here so we often play to pass time. Your friend here is very good."_ The man with the cello said with a wide smile.

"_Thank you, I was amazed I was able to remember the piece, it has been a long time since I played anything classical."_ Markus replied.

"_Your Japanese is pretty good, and your violin skills aren't bad either."_ The woman said as she set her violin in her lap.

"_Oh how rude of me, I'm Kelly Nakamori and this is my friend Markus Garrett."_ Kelly introduced.

"_Hello, I'm Akira Shinjo, and this is my wife Kyoko."_ The man said as he got up to greet them.

Upon hearing this the young girl stood up and said…

"_No you're not daddy, your name is Shinji Ikari and momma is Asuka Langley Soryu-Ikari."_ The girl said with a sense of pride as she corrected her parents.

Upon hearing this Markus and Kelly shocked to the point where they could not move. You could have knocked them over with a feather, for they have found two people that the UN could not find after ten years of international searching.

To Be Continued.

Okay a couple of parings in this plus some other things. I figured Touji and Hikari would eventually have gotten together. I figured they would have a restaurant because Hikari likes to cook. As for Shinji and Asuka I guess it was obvious those two would get together. I chose to make it so they hid out in plain sight because every now and then it works. The idea that those two actually had a kid came out of a couple of rationales. One, at some point those two would grow to love each other. Two, I figured what the hell go ahead and tack it on. Three, it was actually an interesting way to blow their cover. Well till next time.


	5. Chapter 5

After Evangelion

Chapter 5

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

The drive back was long and quiet. Neither of them could even fathom what had just transpired. By sheer chance the just happened to find two of the most wanted people in the world. They were the only direct survivors and eyewitnesses to Third Impact. They are the 2nd and 3rd child respectively, Ikari Shinji and Asuka Langley Soryu.

Seeing them in that setting was a bit surreal to say the least, a modest little shrine in the mountains just above the impact site, the perfect hiding place. Also they blended in real well quiet little family, hospitable in nature, and believable fake names. Probably some well forged documentation also. Asuka had even dyed her hair black so as not to raise suspicions. It was a damn near perfect deception, except for the fact that they told their daughter their real names. A daughter who obviously inherited her mothers personality.

"I don't want to report them." Markus said breaking the silence.

"I know what you mean they seemed so happy, and they have a child. I agree we shouldn't report them." Kelly said in total agreement.

Markus nodded and continued to drive on. It was taking a while because they had decided to take the long way back so they could digest what happened. Then at some point during the trip Markus started laughing almost hysterically.

"And what may I ask is so funny?" Kelly asked astounded that Markus would be laughing at a time like this.

"It's Asuka, I've read her files and watched her video of her and I just can't believe that woman we met was the infamous Asuka Langley Soryu." Markus said as he continued to laugh.

"You know your right." Kelly said as she too began laughing.

"Oh my god, how the hell were those two able to stand each other all these years?" Markus asked as he continued to laugh.

"I know, and how did they even manage to have a kid? I mean common Shinji is such a timid little man bitch and Asuka, well I don't need to go into detail about that." Kelly explained between laughs.

"I bet one day Asuka was like, "Shinji we're getting married." And Shinji was like, "But Asuka." And Asuka would be like, "No buts you little pussy, now common and marry me damnit!" and Shinji could do nothing but agree." Markus explained laughing himself to tears.

"You know they did seem happy." Kelly said calming her self down.

"True, that may have been the most shocking part of it all. The fact that they did, appear anyway, to be happy." Markus said as he calmed down.

"You know we should go back again someday. It would be nice to sit and talk with them." Kelly suggested.

"Yeah but we have to be careful we don't raze suspicions." Markus added.

"Agreed." Kelly added.

"So, want to get something to eat?" Markus asked.

"Markus Garrett, are you asking me out on a date?" Kelly asked.

"Sure, why not." Markus said with a grin.

They stopped along the way at small seafood café just a few miles away from the lake. It was early evening and the sun had already gone down behind the mountains leaving a reddish orange sky. As they ate they discussed each others back story. Markus told of his experiences with unit 3 and how his father died during the unit 4 explosion. Kelly told him about how she was in processing to the middle school for Eva candidates when the sixteenth angel attacked. After that her parents sent her back to America, once she got to America she heard of the eventual raid on NERV by the UN.

"So if you think the UN killed your parents why join an operation that is run by the UN?" Markus asked.

"Well that's the thing I don't know if the UN did kill my parents. For all I know Third Impact did. Now while there is the possibility that the UN killed them I still decided to join because I figure this is the best way to get answers." Kelly explained.

"Now let me ask you, what was it like to pilot an Eva despite having such a low number?" Kelly asked.

"Well first off it was one hell of a tease. To be called the 11th child and your primary use is as a test pilot. It's like playing a demo of a really good game in a store and you want to keep playing but your in a store, it's a demo, and you don't have the money to buy the game. But as for what was it like to be in control of an Eva. Well, it's hard to explain. If I was to find anyway to fully describe it I'd say it's a trip. It is one hell of a trip. And the entry plug smells like blood." Markus described.

"Why does it smell like blood?" Kelly asked.

"They fill the entry plug with this liquid that is similar to the liquid in a womb." Markus replied.

"Oh, if you don't mind me asking were you given a number?" Markus asked.

"Lucky number seven." Kelly replied.

"Well here's to seven/eleven." Markus smiled as he lifted his glass.

The next day Markus and the rest of the tech team were in the warehouse setting up the equipment for the Magi's arrival. The most important thing was the cooling system. It was decided to use liquid nitrogen to keep them cool considering water cooling was too dangerous and fans would just take up too much power. Markus and a few members of his team who happened to be experts when it came to nitro cooled computers. The cooling chamber was kept in the basement of the warehouse, and it needless to say one of the few places left on the world that was cold.

"Okay can we hurry this test up? It's too damn cold down here." Markus complained.

"Hey the Magi are probably the most sophisticated computers in the world. I'll be shocked if this is going to be enough to keep those things cool." A man in a heavy parka explained.

"Jay, I'm not saying that this isn't necessary I'm just saying that it's cold." Markus called out.

Markus had met Jay at a tech trade show. He was showing off some of his prized modified computers and giving a lecture on alternative forms of cooling. After listening to his lecture Markus asked him to rig up a computer cooling system for the crime lab in Markus's department. When Markus was asked to join the UN's investigation team he instantly recommended Jay.

"Alright start the power lets heat this place up." Jay called out signaling the start of the test.

From the main floor several generators were turned on to simulate the amount of power the Magi use when at peak performance. The models they were going off of were from Dr. Akagi notes on the original Magi and the duplicates that were made for the US and German branches.

As the pipes started to heat up the pumps kicked on sending the liquid nitro through another set of pipes. Things were looking good; the cooling system was adjusting to even the slightest change in energy input. After going up and down on the power flow for a while they decided to crank it to max power. The generators were turned up to the level that was listed as the Magi's peak. The pumps adjusted accordingly as planned.

"I think we're ready for the real thing Jay." Markus said as he jotted down the numbers.

He started to walk over to the pumps when one of the nitro pipes cracked and burst open.

"What the hell? Cancel the test, cancel the test we got a pipe breech." Jay said over a direct phone line.

All of a sudden three more pipes ruptured.

"Alright everyone get out of here now, Jay shut down those pumps!" Markus ordered.

All nonessential personnel left the room as Jay manually shut down the pumps.

"Shit! Okay what happened?" Markus asked as he looked out over the pipes.

"The metal was probably weakened by the nitro. No big thing, we'll just thaw this place out and weld on some patches." Jay suggested.

"So what do you recommend for next time?" Marks asked as he took off his parka and put on a lab coat.

"We may want to try keeping the pipes at room temperature then as they begin to heat up apply the nitro more gradually. Either way it's going to take some trial and error till we get it right and also we have to wonder what the real things are going to be like." Jay explained as he went over to inspect the cracks.

"Alright, well I got to check on the progress of the dive team then I have a meeting with Gabriel so for now I leave the project in your capable hands." Markus said as he made his way to the door.

Up stairs people were unhooking the generators and putting them away among other duties. Markus made his way to his work station to pick up his files. As he gathered up the files he happened to glance up stairs at the biology lab and as he did he noticed Kelly was up their. She was wearing a lab coat with a blue skirt and black shirt. She looked cute yet professional.

"You two got home late last night." Albrecht said as he snuck up on Markus.

"DAMN! Dude you scared me. But yeah she and I did have dinner last night."

"Ah, a date; I did not know you two had that kind of relationship." Albrecht said with a sly grin.

"Yes we went on a date and it was very pleasant thank you very much." Markus said as he put up his lab coat and started toward the exit.

"So where did you go what did you do?" Albrecht asked as he followed.

"We ate a little seafood place in town. We ate fish, we talked, and we had a good time. It was actually the best first date I have been on in a while." Markus said as they exited the warehouse.

"Sounds good, but I must know one thing." Albrecht said as he stood in front of Markus.

"How did it end?" Albrecht asked.

"It's none of your business how it ended." Markus said as he walked past Albrecht and on towards the lakeside command center.

"Oh, dodging my question a sure sign of something." Albrecht said as he caught up to Markus.

"Alright you teenage girl, if you must know I walked her back up to her room, we exchanged goodnights and that was that." Markus said.

"Don't be so modest sweetie; he was a real tiger last night." Kelly teased.

As she said that Markus's face turned beet red and Albrecht fell over laughing.

"I'm sorry Mark I couldn't resist; no he was a real gentleman, so much so it earned him a second date." Kelly proclaimed.

"How does Sunday around 8 pm sound?" Markus asked.

"Perfect if I don't see you before then here's something to think about." Kelly said as she walked up to Markus and gave him a deep passionate kiss that left Albrecht stunned.

"See you later Mark. Bye Al." Kelly said as she walked back to the warehouse.

"You can put your tong back in your mouth now Al." Markus said as he headed towards the lakeside command center.

He stepped in to get an update on the operation to raise the Magi. As he stepped in the room was black with a large video wall. The wall was divided up into various squares each showing different operations that were going on. Markus proceeded to one of the dispatchers and asked how the operation was going. The dispatcher informed him that the operation was going smoothly and they were on schedule. Satisfied he turned to walk out but before he did he turned back and noticed a lot of attention being paid to the entrance to Terminal Dogma.

"So is that where the dive team drowned?" He asked the dispatcher.

"Yes sir, that is Terminal Dogma. We were ordered to keep a constant eye on it and to report even the slightest disturbance." The dispatcher explained.

"Do we know what went on down there yet?" Markus continued.

"Negative, all video taken by the dive team was immediately confiscated. I would suspect the only people who have seen the footage are a few crew members from that salvage ship, the team assigned to investigate the incident, and Ms. Kano." The dispatcher added.

"Alright, thanks for the info." With that Markus walked out and back to the warehouse to meet with Gabriel.

Up in the office portion of the warehouse, Ms. Kano, Gabriel, and a few other members of the investigation team met in her office and watched the video that was confiscated from the dive team.

"Turn it off I've seen enough." Ms. Kano ordered as she leaned forward over her desk.

"Please tell me I did not just see that?" Ms. Kano asked as she rested her head on her fingers.

"Honestly, I can not believe what I have seen either." Gabriel added.

"My instinct as a scientist tells me that there must be more to this then what we are seeing. One thing is for sure we now know the dive team wasn't experiencing a group hallucination." Gabriel explained.

"How can you explain that? Not even science can explain the fact that all those clones just suddenly appeared from out of nowhere." Sean argued.

"Maybe all the Angels were not all destroyed after Third Impact. It could very well be Second Impact all over again." A man theorized.

His name was Dr. Chang from China. He was the worlds foremost expert and researcher of the Angels and Second and Third Impact.

"We know Second Impact was caused by Adam, thus spawning the Angels, and Third Impact was caused by Lillith so it is possible that these could be angles created by her. In other words the Lillim." He explained.

"If that is the case then this should truly be the last of the Angels and maybe just maybe we can destroy them without causing another impact." He theorized.

"That is a sound theory Dr. Chang but right now but SEELE will not listen to theories anymore, they want hard facts. As soon as the Magi are raised I want a full excavation of Terminal Dogma. For now I will report what we have to SEELE and the UN. Until then you are all dismissed." Ms. Kano ordered.

With that everyone left the room. As soon as everyone was out of the room her secretary came over the intercom.

"_What is it Ayumu?" _She asked.

"_Ma'am you have an urgent phone call on line 1."_ Ayumu answered.

"_Who is it?"_ She asked.

"_They didn't say ma'am but they said they had information that had to be delivered to you. They mentioned something about those two missing NERV personnel."_ Ayumu described.

"_Patch them through."_ She said with a curious tone.

"_Ms. Yukino Kano?" _The person asked in a disguised voice.

"_Who is this and how did you get this number?"_ She asked.

"_That is not important at this juncture. I have information regarding the whereabouts of Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu."_ The person replied.

"_How do I know what your saying is true and that you're not just feeding me false information?"_ She asked.

"_You are correct to be suspicious. I am sending you a fax now with a picture that should prove that I am genuine."_ As the person said that a fax containing a picture of Asuka and Shinji at the shrine printed out.

"_Feel free to give the picture to your experts, it will prove to be un-doctored and authentic."_ The person said.

"_Alright, you now have my attention. Where are they?"_ She asked.

"_It's best I not tell you over the phone. I will give you instructions on how and where you can meet me. Then and only then will I give you their location."_ With that the person hung up.

To Be Continued.


	6. Chapter 6

After Evangelion

Chapter 6

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

It was a bright sunny day, with a gentle breeze rustling through the trees. Shinji was out in the court yard of the shrine playing his cello for a group of people who had stopped to visit the shrine. As he played Asuka tended to other shrine duties. It was never real busy on slow days they liked to take turns mingling with the crowd. As dangerous as this was they enjoyed it, it made them seem like they still existed.

Of course they managed to alter their appearance some so as to not draw attention. Shinji had grown out his hair and grew a beard where as Asuka had cut her hair short and dyed it had black as she could. She also wore colored contact lenses for good measure. She still looked a bit European; however she did manage to at least look like she was part Japanese.

They were lucky that their daughter was born with black hair but she had her mother's bright blue eyes. It didn't seem like much of an issue; most people complimented her on her eyes. However another thing she inherited from her mother was her big mouth. It goes without saying that after she blew her parents cover she was scolded. But her parents had no one to blame but themselves. Around the house they used their real names so it was bound to happen.

They named her after the one woman who left the most positive and profound impression on them when they were young and her middle name was that of a person whom they grew to see as a person who was more than she seemed, well to them anyway. They named her Misato Ayanami Ikari. They decided on the name as soon as they learned they were having a girl. She's six and attending first grade under the name Misato Ayanami Shinjo. She's a smart girl and is usually good about keeping her parents secret; it was just on that day she had a rare slip up.

As Shinji finished playing his audience applauded, and complimented him on his skills before dispersing. As the crowed began going their separate ways he looked over and happened to see none other than Markus walking up the steps to the shrine. He made his way through the crowd to the main shrine where he made an offering, rang the bell, and gave a silent prayer. After he paid his proper respects he walked over to Shinji and bowed.

"_I'm sorry about last week. I never meant to be so rude as to take off like that."_ With that, Markus looked around at the crowed of people that slowly got smaller.

"_Is their somewhere private we can talk?" _Markus asked.

"_I take it you know who we really are?"_ Shinji asked as he led Markus to the part of the shrine where he and his family lived.

"_Your right I do know who you two are. My name is Markus Garrett; I've done more than my fair share of research on you two. In fact I use to be a part of NERV. Now I'm part of the UN investigation team." _Markus explained.

"_How the hell does a person who was once with NERV even remotely consider joining the UN?"_ Asuka said as she walked in on them.

"_That's actually an easy question to answer. You see in NERV's US and German bases surrendered. After the incident with Unit 3 it wasn't hard for the American branch to hand themselves over to the US government and the UN."_ Markus explained.

"_What is your connection to NERV?"_ Shinji asked.

_My parents were NERV techs. My father died in the incident with Unit 3. I was the eleventh child and the test pilot for Unit 4."_ Markus revealed.

"_You still haven't answered my question. How could you even consider joining the UN after all they did?"_ Asuka continued.

"_I wanted answers. I want to know why all this happened, why was I so special, why did my dad die, what were the Angels, and what were the Eva's?"_ Markus stated.

"_I have another question for you. How can we trust you?"_ Asuka asked as she got right up in his face and looked him dead in the eye.

"_What do I gain from turning you guys in? As far as I'm concerned you guys have every right to live free. If it was up to me I'd see to it that you didn't have to hide. I don't expect you to trust me, at least not now anyway. Besides I can't in good conscience turn you over after seeing your daughter." _Markus explained.

"_Garrett san, would you excuse us for a moment."_ Shinji said as he led Asuka to another room.

"_You're going hate me for saying this but I think he can be trusted."_ Shinji said looking over at Markus.

"_How can you even say that? Even if he was with NERV and the eleventh child as he claims, he is still part of the UN."_ Asuka argued trying to keep her voice down.

"_I understand what you're saying but if he was going to turn us in he would have done it already. In the week since he met us we haven't seen so much as a local cop come around here and snoop around. I really think we can trust him."_ Shinji said making his case.

"_Damnit Shinji, you're as naïve as ever. Tell me again why I decided to marry you?"_ Asuka asked as she rubbed her head.

Shinji smiled and wrapped his arms around Asuka and answered her in German.

"_Because no matter how hard we try to think otherwise we always realize that we need each other. You've made me a better person and I may never be able to properly repay you for that." _He said as he slightly struggled to find the words in German.

"Baka." She said as she smiled and kissed him.

They went back into the living room and continued to talk. They spoke of many things, their pasts, their presents, and their possible futures. When it came to NERV, Markus did most of the talking. He went into depth about how his parents were Eva techs and that his father died in the explosion with Unit 3 and that his mother was promoted to head Eva tech for the American branch but resigned soon after. He went on to tell them about what was going on at the impact zone.

"_Tell me, what will they do with the Magi after they raise them and repair them?" _Shinji asked.

"_We're going to hack the hell out of them and hopefully get some much needed answers." _Markus answered as he took a sip of tea

"_Are you sure they will divulge all the information? I mean are you sure that all information will be released." _Asuka asked

"_I would be naïve if I thought that all the information would be released. I mean sure NERV doesn't exist anymore but the UN, the US, and Germany does and anything that could damage the reputation of the UN and all countries involved will be kept under lock and key. Not to mention all the things that may be more than people can handle."_ Markus explained.

"_Sounds like you've given up. You know for a second I had you pegged as something more, but after hearing that I guess you are just another one of their dogs."_ Asuka calmly accused him.

Markus nodded as he took a sip of tea before responding.

"_Your right I am, but I haven't sold my soul yet. If I had I would have turned you two in and I defiantly wouldn't be handing you possibly classified information free of charge. Well not entirely free this is some great tea."_ Markus responded.

"_Okay so you're a stray dog."_ Shinji added.

Markus was about to respond when his phone rang. Checking the caller ID he saw that it was Gabriel and had to take the call. He politely excused himself and stepped out. Once outside he took a look around and answered.

"Markus, where are you?" Gabriel asked with a slightly worried tone.

"I'm at a shrine in the mountains give or take twenty miles from the impact zone. What's up?" Markus answered.

"Markus listen very carefully, two members of the investigation team have been killed and another one taken hostage by that anti-UN/Eva group. I want you to take the decals off your vehicle and try to lay low for a while. No matter what hide your identity as much as possible and try to make it back to the impact zone." Gabriel instructed.

"How am I supposed to get back on the compound?" Markus asked.

"Don't worry about that. The gate staff has been informed of those not on the complex and have been instructed to make sure everyone gets back here. Just make sure you are not in a vehicle, they have been instructed to stop all vehicles by using any means necessary." Gabriel informed Markus as he went down to alter his vehicle.

"So you want me to ditch the car?" Markus asked as he started to peel off the decals.

"Yes but make sure that all the decals are off the car and destroyed. Don't worry about the license plate, it's generic and its number has been stricken from the records. We are replacing all license plates at this moment. Be careful Markus and get back here safe." Gabriel said as he hung up.

As Markus hung up he cursed under his breath. He then proceeded to call Kelly to make sure she was okay. However he could not get a hold of her. He tried a few more times before turning and heading back to the shrine. As he did he began trying to get in touch with Albrecht. Thankfully he had better luck with him.

"Albrecht are you good?" Markus asked.

"Ja, I'm okay. I'm here in the medical facility. They just brought in the victims and moved them to the coroner's office. Don't worry Kelly is not one of them." Albrecht informed.

"You wouldn't happen to know where she is would you. I can't get a hold of her." Markus asked getting more worried by the moment.

"Don't worry she's alright. She is in the biology lab, which would explain why you can't get in touch with her." Albrecht said reassuring Markus.

"Oh one more thing, despite what has happened they are still going to go ahead with the raising of the Magi tomorrow. They said they are at a point where they can not afford to delay the operation." Albrecht informed him.

"That doesn't surprise me one bit. Okay I'm going to lay low for awhile before I start trying to get back to the impact zone. Tell Kelly to call me as soon as she gets a chance okay." Markus requested.

"Zu jeder Zeit mein Freund, I'll make sure she gets the message." Albrecht responded.

"What was that first part?" Markus asked realizing his German was a bit sketchy at best.

"I said, "Anytime my friend." Albrecht said with a slight laugh.

"Thanks Al." Markus replied.

"Anytime Markus." With that they hung up and Markus proceeded to go back into the shrine.

As he made his way back up to the shrine he couldn't help but look over his shoulder and back at the impact zone. In fact once he got to the top of the stairs he took along look out over the horizon back at the impact zone. As he did he noticed a young girl running up the stairs.

"_I remember you_." She said as she stopped in front of Markus.

"_Momma said I shouldn't talk to you anymore. Are you a bad man?" _She asked as she walked up to him.

"_You don't seem to think so."_ Markus said as he took a seat on the steps.

"_You remind me of momma and daddy."_ She replied.

"_Welcome home Misato." _Shinji said as he walked out to the steps.

"_Daddy!"_ She said as she ran to his arms.

"_Misato, this is Markus Garrett, he isn't as bad as we thought, he is actually a good person."_ Shinji said giving Markus his seal of approval.

"_Markus, allow me to introduce my daughter Misato." _Shinji said as he put her down

"_Right, I'm Misato Ayanami Ikari. Charmed huh?"_ She introduced herself.

"_Markus, if you need a place to stay for a while we have a free guest room that you are welcome to use."_ Shinji said with a smile.

"_I take it you saw the news."_ Markus said as he stood up.

"_I guess it goes without saying. That woman you were with last week, is she okay?"_ Shinji asked.

"_Yeah, a friend of mine said she was too busy to answer her phone and he'll tell her to try and call me back. Let me get a few things from my car and I'll take you up on your offer." Markus answered._

"_Alright, I'll prepare the room for you."_ With that Shinji took Misato back to the shrine while Markus went to his car to retrieve a few personal items, one of them being his violin.

Back at the impact zone Ms. Kano was sitting in her office when her secretary informed her Gabriel had arrived. A few minutes after Gabriel got off the phone with Markus, he was summoned to her office. However she didn't say why.

"You called for me Yukino?" Gabriel asked as he entered the office.

"Are all members of your team accounted for?" She asked as she rubbed her temples.

"All accounted for and safe. Have the terrorists made any demands yet?" He asked as he approached her desk.

"Not yet but it's only a matter of time. The ambassador wasn't kidding." She said as she downed a dose of her headache medicine.

"Excuse me?" He asked.

"The German ambassador warned me about these people. I didn't think they made it this far and would go to these lengths. On top of that something else has come to my attention." She said as she reached into her desk drawer and pulled out some photos.

"Did you know that Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu are still alive?" She said as she looked over the pictures as well as Shinji and Asuka's files.

"No I didn't, but I don't see what that has to do with me unless you want us to perform DNA tests." Gabriel said.

"Take a look at this." She said as she pushed a picture his way.

"What's this?" Gabriel said as he walked up to her desk.

"That is a picture of your boy Markus with Shinji and Asuka. I don't suppose you can explain this could you?" Ms. Kano said as she leaned forward and crossed her hands in front of her face.

"I can't offer you an explanation but I would like the opportunity to talk to him before your guys arrest him." Gabriel said.

"As much as I would like to, we have other plans for him and his involvement with them. Keep me posted." She ordered.

To Be Continued.

By the way I guess I should say I've been using http://babelfish. for all my translation needs. So if I got a translation wrong, blame them.


	7. Chapter 7

After Evangelion

Chapter 7

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

"So where have you been all this time?" Albrecht asked as he noticed Kelly walking away from the garage to the dorms.

"Oh I was on my way to pick up some supplies from Yokota when the attack happened. I got back here as soon as I could, I was lucky the guards didn't shoot at me." She explained.

"So what's with the camera?" He asked as he noticed a very professional looking camera hanging from her shoulder.

"Oh I thought I'd take some pictures along the way. I never really spent much time in Japan and my parents use to talk about her all the time. The last time I was here I didn't get a chance to enjoy it, so I'm making it my mission to not waste this second chance. I hope this whole mess with the terrorists is resolved quickly. By the way have you seen or heard from Markus?" She asked.

"He has been trying to get in touch with you. He's stranded at some shrine and he wants you to call him." He said relaying the message.

"He's been trying to contact me? Oh shit I left my personal phone in my dorm I've been carrying around my work phone this whole time." With that she ran to the dorms.

"Thanks for the message Al." She called out as she rushed into the dormitory.

Al started back to the clinic, as he did he couldn't help but to think that something didn't sit right with the situation. He then shrugged it off as just a bit of paranoia brought on by the current situation, but as he got closer to the clinic he couldn't help but have a feeling that someone was following him. He entered the clinic and headed towards his office when he was stopped by the chief physician and the coroner.

"Guten Tag Albrecht." The chief physician said as he greeted Albrecht.

"Guten Tag Doktor Warner. _To_ _what do I owe this visit?"_

"_Albrecht, I would like you to accompany us with the autopsy of those divers that died in the incident a couple of weeks ago. This is Dr. Sonya Zhirinovsky; she is one of the leading coroners in Russia and a professor at the University of Moscow."_ Dr. Warner said as he introduced the coroner.

Sonya Zhirinovsky was a slightly middle aged woman born and raised in Moscow. She was well versed in many languages and was world renowned for her work. She was slender and of average height with straight, long black hair that had a grey streak that went down the right side.

"_It is a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Warner has told me quite a bit about his prized student." _She said extending her hand

"_Thank you, Dr. Zhirinovsky. Might I say your German is excellent. But linguistics aside might I ask why are they just now letting us do the autopsies?"_ Albrecht asked as they headed toward the morgue.

"_That is a question I can not answer my boy. The UN cover up machine is running on this one so be careful what you say after this."_ Dr. Warner said as they entered the morgue.

"_Gentlemen, why or rather how could five well trained divers drown in a situation like they were in? They were rescued rather quickly and they had their oxygen tanks and dive masks with them. So again I ask you, how could five men, who were highly trained divers, drown so quickly."_ Sonya Asked as she walked over to the five covered corpses.

She walked over to the head of the first man and as she pulled back the sheet all three of them jumped back in shock at what they saw.

"Mein Gott!" Dr. Warner said as he slowly crept forward.

"_Dr. Zhirinovsky, consider your question answered."_ Albrecht said as he looked down at the look of sheer terror that was frozen on the man's face.

At that moment over in the lakeside command center one of the people assigned to observing Terminal Dogma walked over to the head of the command center informing him that their was something he had to hear. The head of the command center followed the observer to his observation center. Once arriving he handed the C.C. head a pair of headphones and turned up the volume. The sound of the headphones was that of an eerie giggling from a young girl.

Meanwhile over at Yokota AB, Nene was putting in some over time as she analyzed more of the samples taken from the skull. Earlier that day they completed cleaning all the mud and grime off the skull but some substances still remained. At first they thought it could be mold but there was something about it that required a closer look. That is what Nene had been doing for a good portion of the day. She was noticeably tired and frustrated that her observations were going nowhere.

"Damn I'm tired, what am I missing common Nene think." She said to her self as she rubbed her temples.

"At this point the only thing I haven't done is compare this sample to the tissue sample." As she said that a light bulb went off in her head.

She walked over to retrieve the jar with the tissue sample. She then turned on another microscope and prepared the sample. As she did she put a fresh sample of the unknown substance under another microscope and brought the image up on a monitor. She put the tissue sample under the microscope and began looking at the two samples side by side. As she looked at the samples she about fell back in shock.

"I have to find Dr. Hurwitz." She said as she gathered up her notes and printed out photos of the samples.

The sun was now well behind the curve of the Earth leaving the east coast of Japan to be lit by the light of the half moon. Markus sat on the steps of the shrine wrapping up a two hour phone conversation with Kelly. As he hung up his cell phone he stared out in the distance. The impact zone was all lit up with stadium and flood lights as everyone prepared for the rising of the Magi.

The extra lighting also helped the guards keep a lookout for the terrorist. The next twenty four hours were critical. The terrorists that captured the member of the investigation team warned of another attack when the Magi broke the surface. On some level Markus could understand why the terrorists were so adamant about stopping the UN from learning the Magi's secrets. Their intentions were good but their methods were horribly wrong. It was kind of like eco terrorists. Their cause is a just one but it's hard to for people to sympathize with saving the rain forest when you commit arson.

"_You know I ran into Touji the other day. He said he wanted me to punch you if I saw you." _Markus said as he turned around.

"_How did you know it was me?"_ Shinji asked as he sat across from Markus.

"_Well I heard someone approach and I figured it was you because your wife still doesn't seem to trust me."_ Markus replied.

"_So are you going to try to go back tomorrow?"_ Shinji asked.

"_Not tomorrow, the security will be too tight. I'll head back the day after, security won't be as tight and the Magi will be secured."_ Markus explained.

"_Well you're welcome here as long as you need."_ Shinji offered.

"Arigato." Markus replied.

"_So Touji wanted you to punch me?"_ Shinji said with a slight laugh.

"_Yeah he told me to not only punch you but to make sure that I either broke your nose or knocked out a few teeth."_ Markus said with a grin.

"_How is he doing these days? It's been so long since I last seen any of them."_ Shinji said as he looked up at the stars and reminisced.

"_He told me that he marred a girl named Hikari, they have a couple of kids and they own a restaurant in Lake Kisaki. He seems happy considering his sister died in Second Impact."_ Markus explained but as he did he noticed that Shinji had momentarily frozen upon hearing the last part of what he said.

"_I didn't know, after that all he wants to do is punch me. I wouldn't blame him if he wanted to kill me. He has every right to you know."_ Shinji said as he hung his head.

"_Perhaps he knows that it wasn't entirely your fault. Then again no one except you and your wife knows what happened that day. For some reason no one can remember that day."_ Markus said as he looked over at Shinji looking for some answers.

Shinji stood up and turned to the Shrine. But as he did he looked back at Markus and responded in English.

"A fair warning Markus, its best you not know what transpired that day. Trust me on this one." As he said that he walked back to the Shrine, with Markus now following behind.

Once inside Shinji walked over to Misato who fell asleep on the floor watching T.V. He picked her up and headed up stairs.

"He's right you know. It is better you and the rest of the world, not know what happened. I have been trying to forget it myself. Are you prepared for what you will find when you activate the Magi?" Asuka asked as Markus entered the Shrine.

"Your English is good, only a slight hint of your German accent. To answer your question, no I am not prepared. I don't think there is anything to prepare me for the truth all I know is that I must know it." Markus explained.

"You're a fool. As they say, "Some ghosts are better left buried." Asuka quietly snapped.

"But then you can't even do that. I watched as your people exhumed Rei's head out her grave. I only now pray to every God left on this planet that they do not return and herald another impact." She said as she got in his face.

Markus chose not to get into a debate with her. Instead he humbly thanked her for allowing him to stay and excused himself from the conversation. He almost made it out of the room when Asuka called him out again.

"Garrett, you will be betrayed by the UN. Once they get the information you know damn well that they will restart the various operations associated with the Eva's only this time children will be asked to fight wars against people not from false angels. Can you live with that knowledge on your conscience?" She asked trying her hardest not to be too loud.

"If something like that did happen, assuming I'm still alive I would destroy the Magi with my own hands." Markus said as he went to the guest room.

The next day Markus watched from the shrine as the Magi were raised to the surface. They were brought up by large balloons then once on the surface lifted by cranes onto waiting barges. The Magi were still in their airtight storage containers proving that the plan everyone agreed on worked.

Security was extremely tight. There were armed guards all over the complex consisting of a combination of UN, US, and JSD forces. As expected there were protesters at all of the gates. As he watched this Markus couldn't help but wonder about the hostage that had been taken. The news had reported that the hostage was rescued over night but something about the whole ordeal made Markus wonder about the legitimacy of it all. But then again the manipulating the media would be nothing new to the UN.

"_Balthazar, Melchior, and Caspar, so those damn eye sores see the light of day yet again_." Shinji said as he walked out to where Markus was.

"_They need me right now and there is no way in hell I can there today. Well they could send a helicopter but that would just draw too much attention_." Markus said as the Magi were moved from the barges to vehicles that transported them into the warehouse.

"_They seem to be doing a good job against the protesters. I'm surprised riots haven't broke out_." Shinji added.

"_Order is easy to obtain when you have high powered automatic weapons aimed at people_." Markus said pointing at the various Hummers.

"_I see_." Shinji said as he also noticed.

Just then there was an explosion at one of the unguarded parts of the fence. As the smoke cleared a jeep burst through with a person standing up with an RPG launcher. The person aimed the RPG at the warehouse, then in a blink of an eye the person fell over and out of the Jeep causing the launcher to go off and explode as the RPG was fired into the ground. The driver of the Jeep continued to race toward the warehouse but was soon mowed down by two or three .50 caliber guns fired from the Hummers. Once that was taken care of, two Hummers moved to take positions in front of the hole in the fence to act as temporary barricades.

"_Well that was exciting_." Markus said as he turned back toward the shrine.

"_How can you be so calm_?" Shinji asked astonished by Markus's calm almost uncaring demeanor.

"_It's called disconnecting. In my line of work you have to be able to disconnect yourself from the personal impact of an event so you can do your job. Also those guys could have killed many innocent people. I have no love or remorse for people like that. Call me cold, call me whatever you like but sometimes it's best to not think of things on a personal level_." Markus explained.

On some level Shinji knew he was right. Shinji could not forgive those who slaughtered the members of NERV, nor could he forgive his father for among other things setting in motion the events that caused Third Impact.

"_Do you want to know what caused Third Impact?"_ Shinji asked Markus.

"_Of course I do, that's why I'm here, that is why I need to get back down there to begin work on the Magi." _Markus answered.

"_My father caused Third Impact. Trust me I was there."_ Shinji said causing Markus to stop dead in his tracks.

Meanwhile at a restaurant at Lake Kisaki, Touji walked in while Hikari was working the register and acting as a hostess.

"_Oh thank god you're okay. I heard what happened on the news I still can't believe you went down there."_ Hikari said as she ran over and hugged him.

"_Yeah it was quite the scare; I managed to get some good pictures I'm sure will get top dollar from the various news organizations."_ Touji said as he walked into the house part of the restaurant and sat his camera down on the table.

He had been doing some freelance photography for some time. Nothing major but thanks to his long time friend Kensuke, who was now a news camera man for a major television network in Japan, he had connections and could get top dollar for his pictures. Recently he had been making several trips to Tokyo to cover the UN investigation.

"_Touji, I know you're making a lot of money from your pictures, but I worry about your safety. Just please be careful out there. With things the way they are I wish you would stay out of Tokyo for the time being."_ Hikari pleaded as she hugged him from behind.

"_Well how about this; I got to go back to Tokyo tomorrow to sell some pictures after that I'll stay here and take over the restaurant for a week giving you some time off."_ He said as he turned around and embraced her.

"_You have a deal, and trust that I will hold you too it."_ She said as she looked up at him and smiled.

To Be Continued.


	8. Chapter 8

After Evangelion

Chapter 8

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

"Nene, this had better be important for you to ask me to come all the way to Yokota this late in the evening." Gabriel said as he met Nene out side the hanger where the head was being kept.

"I apologize for the hour Dr. Hurwitz, but this needed your attention." She said as she led him into the lab.

"Take a look at these, one is a sample of the tissue we recovered from the head, and the other is a sample of an unknown substance we thought was just a stubborn mold." She explained.

Gabriel studied the photos and looked at the samples and wasn't so much shocked as he was intrigued.

"Nene, is what I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing?" He asked.

"I was hoping you could tell me. According to that, the tissue is regenerating itself. Doctor I know we declared this an angel, but tell me is this one still alive?" Nene asked hoping she was wrong.

"Nene, who else knows about this?" He asked.

"Just you doctor, no one else." She answered.

"This information is now classified top secret understand. I'm going to take this to Yukino and we'll go from there." He said as he started gathering up the pictures and the findings.

"Keep me informed of all new findings and I want to be notified if that head starts growing so much as bone marrow. Nene, I trust you on this one. No one is to leak any information do I make myself clear?" He asked.

Nene nodded as Gabriel headed for his car and back to Tokyo.

As Gabriel drove off Nene went back into the hanger. She headed over to her office and picked up a camera before heading over to skull. The skull took up most of the floor of the hanger. Part of it was propped up so that the inside could be investigated. Sever industrial sized flood lights lit up the area allowing more than enough light for the various test that were made on the skull each day.

Nene started taking pictures from the catwalk over the skull, making sure to get as much of it in the picture as possible. She covered every angle from above then moved down to the floor. She took more pictures from each side before taking close up shots of the reforming tissue. As she took pictures of the tissue she took down various measurements to tracking the growth. She then moved on to the sliced part of the skull taking detailed pictures in hopes of finding any type of enamel or tissue growth.

After that she grabbed a smaller flood lamp and proceeded under the skull. As she began taking pictures she paused as she heard a faint whisper. She looked around and shrugged it off. She continued to take more pictures when she heard it again. This time she could faintly make out what it was saying.

"What are you looking for? What do you hope to find?" The voice asked.

Nene again shrugged it off as nothing more than her imagination starting to wonder from lack of sleep. She finished up her photos and headed back to her office. Back at her office she downloaded the pictures onto her computer and put them into a file that was labeled "Classified Deliveries". She then proceeded to log on to a private server. Her screen went black then a red block appeared for her password.

"_God's in his Heaven, All's right with the world."_

"_So when you woke up it was just you and Asuka alone on some beach."_ Markus said repeating the last thing Shinji told him.

"_That's it. I wish I could tell you more but the jist of it is my father and NERV had set into motion the events that started third impact."_ Shinji said recapping the facts of his story.

"_There is one flaw with your story. You know that he did do it but you don't know how he did it. I think there is more to the story than what you know."_ Markus replied.

"_I do not need to know any more than that. My father is responsible for the death of so many people. I don't need to know the how or why. I wish I was in your shoes. I wish I couldn't remember that moment either."_ Shinji stated.

"_Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it."_ Markus quoted.

"_I wish more people followed that advice. So I guess you'll be trying to get back tomorrow." _Shinji said changing the subject.

"_Yeah, my supervisor will be coming out to pick me and the car up. I'll be out of your hair first thing in the morning."_ Markus said with a smile as they walked back to the shrine.

"_You haven't worn out your welcome; I'm glad you came here, it has been so long since me and Asuka could be around someone and be ourselves. She may never say it but I'm sure Asuka has enjoyed having you over as well."_ Shinji explained.

"_Is that so?"_ Markus asked as he laughed.

"_It's true. Despite what you may have read she is not as bad as she use to be. She's a good wife and an exceptional mother. I remember when the fact that she was going to be a mother sunk in. I found her laying on the grass rubbing her stomach and just staring off into space._

"_You know after my mom committed suicide I wondered if she really did love me. Actually now that I think of it I started to question her love when she was labeled clinically insane. But that day, that day I was piloting my Unit 2 against those other Eva's I felt her presence. I knew at that moment that she had been with me all this time watching over me. I don't blame her for what she did, not anymore. I realize that her demons were more than she could handle and now that I think about it her demons were starting to manifest in me. But on that day, it was as if her spirit chased away those demons. It's funny; I once said that I never wanted children of my own but now. I lay here with a person inside me and now that I fully realize it and I'm happy." _Asuka said as he gave off a glowing smile as a tear rolled down the side of her face.

Shinji moved closer to her and started running his fingers through her fire red hair.

"_Who are you and what having you done with my Asuka?"_ Shinji said with a chuckle.

"_My god you are still as lame now as when I first met you."_ Asuka replied as she put her hand on his cheek.

Shinji leaned in and they embraced in a soft kiss.

"_I think you'll be a great mother. If your mother could see you now I know she would be proud."_ Shinji said.

"_Thank you._" Asuka said with a smile as tears started to run down her face.

"_I envy you Shinji."_ Markus said as they walked into the shrine.

"_How so?"_ Shinji asked.

"_Despite the secrecy you have a good life here, I wonder if I'll ever be able to obtain a life like this."_ Markus explained.

"_Your time will come my friend, your time will come."_ Shinji assured him as they sat down for dinner.

Later that night Markus was awaken by the sound of his phone. The instant he saw the call waiting he snapped up and walked out onto the lawn.

"I had a feeling you would call me eventually." Markus said.

"I don't know have you found them?"

"Look I'm not going to dignify that with a response now can we stop with the rumors and get to why you called me?"

"Really, I'll check the file first thing when I get back."

"No one suspects my part in this game, but then again I have been in hiding the past two days."

"Will you stop with the rumors…?"

"Do you now? Well pictures can be altered, very professionally or so I'm told."

"No I have not forgotten who I work for but I'm not your dog or one of your puppets."

"I'm sorry, you know how I am."

"I understand it won't happen again. I'll be back at the impact zone tomorrow morning."

With that Markus hung up his phone and started rubbing his head.

"How long have you been standing there Asuka?" Markus asked sensing Asukas' presence around the corner.

"I want answers Garrett and I want them now. Who are you really and what are you doing here?"

"Look I'll answer that in due time right now you three are in danger. They know you're here and they'll come for you. Please I didn't tell them anything, you may not believe me but that is the Gods honest truth." Markus said as he started to pace.

"How the hell can I trust you? Is your name really Markus Garrett? Are you really the eleventh child? What is a lie, and what is the truth?" Asuka demanded.

Markus didn't say a word, instead he went back into his room and handed her his wallet with all its contents. She looked through it and pulled out a red and black ID card. As soon as she saw it she dropped it and the wallet and froze up.

"That's right. I am one of them and they are onto you. Depending on when they come after you depends on if they believed my story or not. Asuka, get your family out of here and out to safety. I don't know what their intentions are but I can assure you my intentions are to not let them get you." Markus explained.

"I trust him Asuka." Shinji said.

"What? How can you possibly trust him? Shinji, he's with…" Shinji cut off Asuka.

"He's with us. If he wasn't he would have turned us in by now, and he wouldn't have warned us." Shinji explained.

"If you leave tonight you'll have ample time to hide." Markus suggested.

"Why are you helping us? What do you hope to gain from all this?" Asuka asked.

"Asuka, you are good people and believe it or not I have a conscience. Get out of here, hide, I'll stay quiet. Trust me, please; I don't want anything to happen to you guys." Markus assured them.

"Thank you Markus, we can be cleared out of here by morning. We've prepared for a situation like this." Shinji said.

"Markus?" Asuka asked as she walked up to him.

"Yes?" He replied.

With that Asuka slapped him so hard he was knocked to the floor.

"That was for lying to us. But thank you for helping us and I am glad we met you. Now prove yourself Garrett." Asuka said.

"Godspeed to both of you."

With that Asuka and Shinji went back into the house and gathered up all the belongings they could carry along with all evidence such as pictures and paperwork that gave any evidence that _they_ lived there. Markus proceeded to gather up his things and he headed down to his car. He then sped away without looking back.

Thirty minutes later he parked his car a mile away from the impact zone and put the decals back on his car and reactivated the tracking device. He then drove speed limit up to the front gate and as he got in sight he was stopped. He tossed his keys out the window and stuck his hands out. After being checked and cleared by the guards he parked the car in the garage and contacted Gabriel.

The next morning he sat in Gabriel's office ready to face the proverbial firing squad.

"Okay before we get to the stunt you pulled last night I want you first to explain this." Gabriel said as he tossed a couple of pictures in front of Markus.

Markus took a detailed look at the pictures and set them back down on the desk.

"They're fakes, complete and utter fakes. Someone must be out to frame me or something." Markus said as he confidently sat back in his chair.

Gabriel leaned forward and looked him dead in the eye.

"Don't lye to me you little shit. We did so many tests on these it'll make your head spin. They're authentic and you're in so deep you may never see the sun again. Now I'm trying to help you here. Yukino has seen these pictures too and you can bet your sweet ass that if she has her way you will go down for aiding and abetting wanted fugitives." Gabriel explained.

"Now is that Ikari Shinji and Asuka Langley Soryu in that picture and if it is where are they?" Gabriel asked.

"Let me see it again and let me see it with a picture of Asuka and Shinji." Markus requested.

Gabriel did that and handed him file pictures of Asuka and Shinji.

"No it is not them. To be honest I did think that at first but after spending two days with them I'm certain that the people in this picture are defiantly not Asuka and Shinji. I mean the resemblance is uncanny but as you know I've studied those two and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the people in these pictures are not Asuka and Shinji." Markus said as he looked Gabriel in the eyes to prove he wasn't lying.

"If you like I'll take a polygraph test." Markus added.

Later that morning he was given a polygraph test and passed easily. After lunch he went back to work and began his work on the MAGI. Once inside the warehouse he became all business. He looked over each MAGI and took down notes on what was needed. Many parts were in serious need of either repair or replacement.

"Ladies and gentlemen we got a lot of work ahead of us. I want total attention to detail paid to every little piece of these servers. If so much as a screw is rusted or damaged I want it replaced. Do we understand each other?" He asked.

The group nodded in acknowledgement and went right to work.

"Welcome back Markus." Kelly said as she walked pass.

"Kelly, how do you feel about dinner on Saturday?" Markus asked as he gathered up some supplies.

"I feel very good about it. See you then." She said as she walked off.

Meanwhile in Yukino's office, Gabriel and Yukino watched as Markus and his team worked.

"My people checked the shrine. It was empty, as if it had been vacant for months almost a year or so. I have placed Markus under tight surveillance and we did a very through check of his background and his current activities." Yukino reported.

"So what did you find?" Gabriel asked.

"Nothing, your boy is clean. Something is going on here Dr. Hurwitz and when we discover what it is heads will roll I swear it." Yukino threatened.

To Be Continued.

Who are "they"? Who did Nene send the pictures to? Are Asuka and Shinji safe and what will become of Markus? More questions that will eventually be answered in later chapters. I apologize for the long wait; also I hope you all enjoyed that little flashback between Shinji and Asuka. Don't worry Shinji and Asuka will be back as will Touji and Hikari and I might bring in Kensuke. So till next time keep reading, keep reviewing, and feel free to ask me any question you may have.


	9. Chapter 9

After Evangelion

Chapter 9

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

One would think that the raising of the MAGI would bring an end to the underwater portion of the investigation. However that wasn't the case. The exploration of the lake bed was far from over. For one thing since the incident there were plans of a proper excavation of Terminal Dogma. Another goal that the UN had was to find any and all remains of Unit 1. The remains of Unit 2 were recovered after third impact and transported back to Germany for study and later disposal. Unit 1 was never found; some experts believe that Unit 1 was part of the cause of third impact and may have been vaporized in the process. Others believe that it survived and could very well be at the bottom of the lake. So on this day while one group got a command center set up outside of Terminal Dogma another group dragged sensors over the floor of the lake in hopes that Unit 1 may have been buried in the mud.

Meanwhile back on the surface, Markus was huddled up inside of Casper with his laptop taking down notes and doing diagnostic tests of various parts of the server. Kelly was upstairs testing samples taken from parts of the lake where the experts believe Unit 1 may be. Over at the clinic it was another slow day so Albrecht was assigned to inventory. All and all it was a slow day at the impact zone.

Over in Yokota things were a little more exciting. Gabriel and Nene continued to monitor the tissue as it continued to grow. The tissue was starting to get bigger and new bone was also starting to form. Fortunately the process was still slow but it was showing signs of hastening.

"We cannot let this thing reform, hell we have to find some way to kill this thing before it even generates an A.T. field if it hasn't already." Gabriel said as he wiped some sweat from his brow

"Well we can honestly say that it hasn't formed an A.T. field yet other wise we wouldn't be able to take samples. But if you really wanted it destroyed so badly we could always just burn it, or crush it, or even both." Nene suggested.

"Trust me the thought has lingered in my head but we have to at least find out a few things before we simply dispose of it permanently. For example DNA is still testing samples and we also have people trying to reconstruct the skull." Gabriel explained.

"Honestly I could care less who this thing is. All I know is that it is an angel and it must be destroyed. God forbid we have a fourth impact." Nene complained.

"You'll have to excuse my wanting to know as much about something as possible. This skull has some stories to tell and questions to answer. Questions such as; what caused third impact and how? What were the angles? All that could very well be answered through this skull." Gabriel explained.

"Some of us can live without knowing everything Dr. Hurwitz. Some truths, perhaps, are better left hidden. I don't know I guess I'm just scared. I try to hold up but the moment I found out that this thing was still alive I started to loose sleep. It's like I'm being haunted. Haunted by a young girl, she keeps asking me what I'm looking for and what I hope to find. I don't know the answer to either question but she keeps asking me. I swear I think I'm starting to loose it." She said as she walked over to the glass and looked out over the skull.

"This girl who is haunting you, do you know what she looks like?" Gabriel asked.

"Not much, I usually just hear her voice. But there was this one time, I don't know if it was a dream or what but I may have seen her. She was very pale possibly albino and she had blue hair. If that doesn't scream ghost then I don't know what does." Nene Said as she laughed it off.

"Ayanami Rei?" Gabriel said under his breath.

"What was that doctor?" Nene asked as she turned back toward Gabriel.

"Oh it's nothing Nene. Nothing to worry about; we better get back to work shall we." Gabriel said as he got back to his studies.

"Yes doctor." Nene said as she walked back toward the table.

As she walked back she looked over her shoulder and for an instant she thought she saw the girl standing on the skull.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the city and the strict secrecy of the impact zone, a family of three avoided the major highways on there way north. Since the shrine was dirt-cheap and their alternate lives were so well forged Asuka and Shinji managed to save some legitimate funds and purchased an old hot spring resort on the island of Hokkaido.

The place was dilapidated and the spring had become over run with monkeys. So at auction it was a steal. Through the years Asuka and Shinji would spend the summers fixing it up with plans to either flip it or use it as a safe house once it was finished. It was secluded but not far from the main road that went into Sapporo so they knew that if it came down to it they could make a good amount of money off of it. However, the current developments forced them to use it as a safe house until the day they could move back to the shrine.

"_We may have a hard time with the ferry, god knows there will be someone keeping an eye out for us."_ Asuka said as she glanced over at the GPS navigator.

"_I was thinking that too. I may want to consider using one of the smaller ferries. If we have to use one of the bigger ones it would be best to cross when there are a lot of people. The way I see it if we cross at the crack of dawn or on the last ferry of the night that may raise suspicions. But if we cross when it is crowded then we can hide out among the crowd."_ Shinji explained

"_Well I am very impressed Shinji. I see my extraordinary intelligence has finally rubbed off on you. I knew it was only a matter of time."_ Asuka said as she relaxed in her seat with a sense of pride and a smug look on her face.

"_Mommy, stop making fun of daddy. He is smart all by himself."_ Misato said as she poked her head out between the seats.

"_Well thank you sweetie, it's good to know someone believes in me."_ Shinji said with a laugh.

"_I am not making fun of your father. It's a fact that he is as smart as he is now because of me. Before you were born your father would have died without me, but I being the nicest and most considerate person in the world helped him and now he is the man he is today thanks to your mother."_ Asuka explained as the smugness turned to a look of superiority.

"_Is that true daddy?"_ Misato asked.

"_Some of its true. She's right she did help me a lot and I probably wouldn't be the man I am today if it wasn't for her constantly yelling at me and pushing me to better myself."_ He said as he reached over and gently grabbed Asuka's hand.

"_Sometimes I don't thank her enough."_ He said, as he leaned over and stole a kiss while they were stopped at a light.

"_Oooo, mommy and daddy are kissing oooo."_ Misato teased while giggling.

Shinji smiled and reached back and messed up her hair before continuing on. The Ferry to Hokkaido was still a good portion of a day away.

"_Thanks for meeting with me. I know how hectic your schedule is what with your network covering the terrorist attacks on the impact zone and all."_ Touji said as he sat down in a booth at a small café a few miles away from the impact zone.

"_Anything for an old friend, especially one that provides such excellent pictures. Oh that reminds me here is the money from the last batch you provided. My editor loved them he only wished you had video but we have ties to news papers so it worked out."_ Kensuke said as he passed Touji an envelope full of money.

"_Wow! This is more than I expected did you take your cut?"_ Touji said as he counted the money.

"_Yeah I did plus a little extra so as to pay for dinner. Hope you don't mind."_ Kensuke added.

"_So you got anything new?" _Kensuke asked as the waitress delivered their drinks and took their meal orders.

"_Well these are going to my last pictures for awhile and I hope you don't mind I've been offering them up to other people but rest assured you are getting the negatives and full broadcast and publishing rights."_ Touji explained as he pulled a manila envelope out of his backpack.

"_So you've been dealing in blackmail? Did you manage to make a nice sum of money?"_ Kensuke asked as he leaned back in his seat and lit a cigarette.

"_Not much, I wasn't sure how accurate they were so I didn't ask for any at first. Once they were authenticated I was offered a sizable amount. I felt I shouldn't push my luck so I took what they offered and left. Also, I wouldn't call it black mail more like passing of information."_ Touji explained.

"_Well I can not wait to see what you have but first dinner, I don't like to get excited on an empty stomach."_ Kensuke said.

With that they changed the subject and talked about how they were doing and other little chitchat. Their small talk continued through dinner, which didn't take long since Touji ordered a small meal and Kensuke practically inhaled his not hiding his impatience.

"_Alright, my friend you have kept me in suspense long enough. What do you got for me?" _ Kensuke asked as he pushed his plate off to the side.

Touji handed him the envelope, which was opened immediately once it made its way to Kensuke's eager hands. He pulled out the pictures and studied them for a while.

"_Look familiar?_" Touji asked as he took a sip of his drink.

"_This isn't who I think this is, is it?_" Kensuke asked in utter disbelief.

"_I didn't at first but it is no doubt that the people in that picture is that rat bastard Shinji and queen bitch herself Asuka."_ Touji explained.

"_Who's this other guy?"_ Kensuke asked.

"_It gets better that is a member of the UN's investigation team. His name is Markus Garrett he is the head of the computer forensics division. In other words he is in charge of the people who are hacking the MAGI."_ Touji added.

"_Do you have any idea how rich this will make us? You know screw rich we'll be famous my friend."_ Kensuke said as he tried to contain his excitement.

"_Look you can have the fame so long as I get my fair share."_ Touji said laying down his terms.

"_No worries man, no worries. Tell you what I'll even pick up your Pulitzer for you."_ Kensuke said as he looked through the rest of the pictures.

"_Wait a sec. Who's the kid?"_ Kensuke asked.

"_What kid?"_ Touji asked back.

"_The kid in some of these pictures with Asuka and Shinji."_ Kensuke said as he pointed her out.

"_Oh I think that is their daughter. I never caught her name."_ Touji said almost nonchalantly.

"_Okay this may complicate things." _Kensuke said as he took a long puff of his cigarette.

"_How so?" _Touji asked

"_Well if we go public with this federal agents will be on those two hard. I have no problems with that but they have a child and she looks happy and healthy. I'm sorry I'm going to have to play the journalistic integrity card on this one."_ Kensuke said as he handed the pictures back to him.

"_Are you serious? Are you really serious? We have a chance to put away two criminals and you are playing the journalistic integrity card on me. What the fuck Kensuke?"_ Touji said trying to keep his voice down.

"_Look I know you blame them for the death of your sister but you know I don't think they purposely killed her. Honestly I don't even think they caused Third Impact. If it was just them, I would go along with you on this you know I would, but they have a kid. I am not breaking up another family in pursuit of a story. Not again."_ Kensuke said referring to a story he once broke about a man who fell on hard times and in order to support his family he started to embezzle funds from his company.

He didn't embezzle much in fact it was only a mere drop in the ocean compared to what some CEO's get caught doing. But right before man was going to stop all activity, Kensuke being new and looking for that big story broke this one and indecently broke up the mans family. It turned out the wife was in on it too and she too was arrested and sentenced to prison time while the children were separated and sent to foster homes. Kensuke was congratulated for his work but he swore that if it would break up a GOOD family he would avoid the story all together.

"_I see, look I'll hold out before going over your head. I want to bring you in on this with me as a sign of friendship and gratitude for helping me out all these years. But rest assured I won't hesitate to leave you in the dust."_ Touji said as he got up and placed some money on the table to cover the tip. He then gathered up the pictures and the rest of his things and stepped out.

That night Kelly was helping an overly exhausted Markus back to his dorm.

"Guten Abend Kelly. Need a hand with that thing on your shoulder." Albrecht joked as their paths crossed.

"So I'm reduced to a thing now?" Markus said in a groggy tone.

"Al if you would be so kind as to help me get this workaholic to his room." She requested.

With that Albrecht took one of Markus's arms over his shoulder and helped him back to his room.

"Thanks I guess I pushed myself a little to hard today." Markus admitted as he stumbled to his bed.

Albrecht walked over him and began to examine him.

"Mark, did you eat today?" Albrecht asked.

"I think I had a couple of pop tarts for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and I may have skipped dinner." Markus replied.

"What have you been drinking?" Albrecht continued.

"Sports drinks and water." He replied.

"Well at least you did one thing right. Look I want you to get some rest. I'll let the others know that I am giving you half a day off tomorrow. I want you to take more breaks and eat a decent meal or two. Keep up with the water and sports drinks though." Albrecht said exercising his authority as a doctor.

"No problem doc." He said as he collapsed on his bed.

"Kelly I leave him in your capable hands." Albrecht said as he walked out of the room.

"Well we haven't been going out long enough for me to undress you so…" With that she took off his shoes, took his keys of his belt loop, emptied his pockets and took out his wallet. As she placed his stuff on the nightstand his wallet fell to the floor and opened up. She knelt down to pick it up and as she did she found an odd red and black card. Upon further inspection it was an I.D. card. Startled she dropped it once she realized what the card was from.

Back at Yokota Nene was getting ready to go home when something appeared out of the corner of her eye. She looked but it was gone. She decided to try and hurry home. As she walked out into the hanger she heard it again. The young girls voice.

"What are you looking for? What do you hope to find?" It asked.

Nene attempted to ignore it. She had been working to hard and was about ready to ask for some time off. The closer she got to the door the louder and clearer the voice became.

"What are you looking for? What do you hope to find?" It asked again.

"I'm not hear this, I'm not hearing this." Nene repeated to her self as she ran out to her car.

The voice seemed to follow her as she left the base. She began to drive faster as if to out run the voice. As she got closer to her apartment she saw her, she saw Rei standing in the middle of the road. She swerved and hit the curb causing her car to rollover.

She came too just a few minutes later. She could hear the sirens approaching; she then reached up and took her keys out of the ignition. She knew she might have a neck injury so she stayed put till the paramedics came. As she waited she managed to look out her window and walking toward her in a green school uniform and blue hair was she. Rei walked closer to the car causing Nene to panic. Nene knew she should move but she couldn't help it. She tried to get free of her seatbelt. Rei knelt down and looked into the window causing Nene to let out a blood-curtailing scream. Her movements got more frantic which caused her seatbelt to come loose. As she came loose her neck snapped as it hit the roof of the car. The ambulance had just arrived.

To Be Continued.

So rather slow chapter but I think I built some suspense. We now know it was Touji who was spying on Shinji and Asuka, and it was he who gave the pictures to Yukino. In the next chapter I'll reveal what that I.D. card signifies. Also yes I am pretty much making Rei the profit of doom but if you think about it she kinda was. So till next time please read, review and feel free to ask me any questions you may have. Also after chapter 10 I would like to invite my readers to collaborate on some later chapters with me. Let me know if you're interested.


	10. Chapter 10

After Evangelion

Chapter 10

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

The past couple of days had been quiet and uneventful. News of what happened to Nene had spread fast among the personnel at Yokota and at the Impact Zone. It had been three days since the accident and rumors of weather she was dead or alive were all that people were going on about. Out of respect for their colleague, Markus and Kelly decided to cancel their date and instead go to Yokota and meet with Gabriel to see if she was in fact still alive or not.

Speaking of those two, the night Kelly and Albrecht carried him to bed Kelly decided to stay with him despite the shock given to her by the sight of the I.D. card. She started to realize that if she could stay with him even after discovering such a secret then she must have been developing feelings for him after all. She stayed with him all night and was their sleeping on the floor next to his bed wrapped up in a sheet she managed to steal from him while he was sleeping. It wasn't long after he found her that there phones delivered the news about Nene.

Their plans would have to wait however. After two days of pleasant whether a storm had hit the region and hit hard. All personnel were asked to stay off the roads and remain indoors. It wasn't a typhoon or anything just a random summer storm that was a little more dramatic than usual. Heavy rains, lighting, and some hail was reported. So with that everyone hunkered down for the day and evening to ride out the storm.

This gave Markus and Kelly an opportunity to have dinner together if not in their dorm. Each dorm room had a full and working kitchen so they decided to cook. Nothing fancy, just some pasta and some side vegetables. Neither of them had any wine so they settled on some high-end grape juice. Of coarse when I mean high end I mean some juice that was actually one hundred percent juice.

Meanwhile at Lake Kisaki the storm was just as bad prompting Hikari to close the restaurant early. As she did an unexpected visitor showed up at the door.

"_Kensuke? What are you doing here and in this god forsaken whether?"_ She asked as she allowed him in.

"_I'm sorry to drop in like this Hikari but I had to see Touji. Is he here?" _He asked as he put up his raincoat and umbrella.

"_He's in the back putting some things away. Please come in let's get you somewhere warm and dry. I'd hate for you to catch cold after coming all this way just for a visit."_ She said as she led him to the house portion of the building.

"_That's very kind of you Hikari, but then you've always been like that."_ He said with a smile.

"_Well some things you just can't change I guess. So how have you been Mr. Network reporter?"_ She teased.

"_Well I'm not a full on reporter yet, I'm still just a camera man but I have done some reporting. Nothing really major or anything I'm particularly proud of."_ He explained.

"_Kensuke, this is a surprise I didn't expect to see you. What brings you all the way out here man?"_ Touji said as he walked out of the office.

"_I came to talk to you. Hikari is it okay if I speak with your husband in private?"_ He asked.

"_Oh don't mind me. Hey I'll whip you up some nice hot miso soup and rice to warm you right up."_ She smiled as she went into the kitchen.

"_So did you change your mind?"_ Touji asked as they sat at the dinner table.

"_I have given it some serious thought. Look can we talk about something else at least until after I try some of your wife's cooking?"_ He asked.

"_Of course. I mean it would be a crime for me to not let you enjoy some of Hikari's cooking."_ Touji said with a grin.

As the storm raged on outside the two talked about other things for a while in a scene similar to the one they had only three days prior. Only this time Kensuke seemed to be trying harder to avoid the main reason why he came. It wasn't long till Hikari came out with the soup and rice. She happily served it to them and went off to tend to the children.

"_You know you are doing a good job at avoiding the reason you came."_ Touji pointed out as he finished his meal.

"_Your wife is a good cook I'm glad I got to enjoy it. Okay look, the reason I came is to ask you to not go ahead with those pictures. I realize that you are hell bent on having those hauled off but I implore you not to go through with it. You're a father yourself imagine what it would be like if all of a sudden federal agents burst in and separated your family."_ Kensuke said looking him dead in the eyes.

Touji didn't answer; he just sat there as if contemplating what was revealed to him. He wanted badly to dismiss what Kensuke had just said but he couldn't deny it was the truth.

"_I agree with Kensuke on this Touji. Shinji and Asuka had nothing to do with the death of your sister. Please for the sake of their daughter, whom is totally innocent in all this by the way, stop this and leave them be."_ Hikari pleaded as she stepped into the dinning room.

"_How much did you hear?"_ Touji asked in a somber tone. At this point he wished he could just excuse himself and go for a long walk alone to be with his thoughts but that was out of the question as the storm still raged outside.

"_Everything. Tell me what did their daughter ever do to you? Like I said she is innocent in all this and from what I gather she is being treated well and I have no doubt that she is loved. Please Touji don't go through with this."_ She pleaded as she took his hand into hers.

He took a deep breath and stood up from the table.

"_I need to be alone for awhile."_ He said as he excused himself and staggered to the bedroom.

"_Hikari, I'm sorry somehow I feel that this is partially my fault. I should probably be going now. The storm seems to be letting up."_ Kensuke said as he stood up.

"_Be careful going home. I'm confident that he'll do the right thing."_ She assured him as he walked toward the door.

They said their goodbyes and exchanged a quick hug before Kensuke went out to his car and drove off. Hikari then proceeded to lock the door and turn out the lights as she made her way back to the house. On her way to the bedroom she noticed her husband standing in the doorway of their children's room watching them sleep. She walked up to him hugging him from behind and burying her head between his shoulder blades.

"_I won't publish those pictures, but I need to confront them. I need to have Shinji look me in the eyes and tell me that it wasn't his fault, that is was all out of his hands, that he had nothing to do with it."_ He said as he turned around and returned the embrace.

The next day everyone was back to work at their respective jobs. Markus had hunkered down inside another one of the MAGI to determine what repairs and parts it needed. The first one was quite the job. Three hard drives had to be taken out and repaired along with two processors and a whole host of other devices. But the team was enthusiastic enough and made the necessary repairs in almost no time at all. For now the first MAGI was going through a final diagnostics check before they turned it on.

The second one however was starting to prove to be a chore. No real significant or unfixable damage was seen but it was like crawling through thick vines as the contents had shifted wildly at some point. Crawling in was proving to be a futile venture. Markus, after going just a few feet, decided to pull himself out and contemplate the team's next move.

"Okay people you guys wanted a challenge well here you go. I don't think anything important was damaged but then again with all the stuff that came loose in there… I want a thorough check of this thing done and if you have to take this thing a part let me know." Markus instructed. He then turned his attention to the final unit.

"Okay with any luck this one will be in the same if not better condition than the first unit. Worst case scenario it's like that one or worse." He explained has he removed the side panel from the large server.

Upon first inspection everything seemed okay except for the dank moldy smell that was found in all three of them. Everything seemed to be in its original spot so at first glance everything seemed fine. As he crawled in he began shining his pocket flashlight on all the connection ports, the processing chips, the hard drives and other sensitive material. As expected a lot of the connection ports had corroded from time, and there was no sign of water intrusion. There was dust and the occasional cob web but nothing anymore significant than was found in the first one.

He soon made his way to the brain core. Upon inspection he noticed the core had been opened. This must have been the MAGI that Dr. Akagi was in when the angel infected the system. He got over his admiration and continued with the inspection. Everything seemed to be in order however there was one thing a bit out of place. Next to the core was a lone floppy disk, a small black floppy with no label. Markus then finished up his inspection and wrote down his recommendations before picking up the floppy and heading out.

As he crawled out of the server he handed his notes and findings to one of his assistants and proceeded to his office to start on the weekly progress report and later to analyze the floppy. After pointing out his findings and complaining about the condition of the second unit he sent the report up to Gabriel and turned to one of his research computers. He decided to use the one computer that was not connected to the network on the off chance that this was a virus program.

His suspicions were correct when he discovered that this was in fact a virus program. The odd thing was that it was developed by Dr. Akagi herself. He began to analyze the data and learned that it was an extremely powerful virus developed for one purpose; to destroy the MAGI. Fearing what a powerful virus like this could do to his one computer he began closing out the program. Just as he was about to eject the disk he noticed there was a text file placed on the disk. It was a confession from Ritsuko addressed to whom ever did find the disk. As he read it his face turned pale as Markus Garrett the eleventh child learned the truth about third impact.

Later that day Touji made his way up to the shrine Shinji and Asuka once frequented. It was now taped off as a crime scene with two local police officers standing guard. Touji made his way to the side of the house and managed to climb in through an open window. Once inside he began to look for some clue pertaining to where Shinji and Asuka fled to. The house was almost completely empty; he couldn't help but be amazed by how thorough they were about removing any evidence that suggested that they once lived there.

He carefully made his way to the master bedroom upstairs and started looking through and around the dresser. He figured if there was so much of a picture that could lead him to them it would be there of all places. He was mindful to wear gloves as he easily removed each drawer and examined it. One by one nothing could be found. He then went to look behind the dresser. As quietly as possible he lifted the dresser a bit and moved it so that he could easily take a look. As he did, something fell to the ground. It was a small picture of Shinji and Asuka.

The picture seemed old maybe a few years but he knew it was them. In the picture Asuka still had her red hair and from the looked about five to six months pregnant. The picture was taken in what looked like maybe late summer/early fall. Shinji was wearing an orange shirt over a black long sleeved shirt and Asuka wore a light green almost blue long sleeved shirt with a black fleece vest. So it was obviously cold but not very which suggested that maybe it was taken sometime in October. However with the way the weather was since Second Impact it only ever got that cold in Hokkaido. The moment he thought that he took a look at the mountain in the background. He soon recognized it as a mountain he and Hikari saw on their last trip up there. He put the dresser back in it's original spot, pocketed the picture and made his way out of the house back down the side of the mountain to the spot he parked his car.

It was nine o' clock in the evening, thanks to the train, when Touji arrived at his home in Lake Kisaki.

"_Where the hell were you Touji?"_ Hikari asked angrily.

"_You know I don't mind you coming home late as long as you call but I haven't heard from you since this morning. Considering how you've been since your visit with Kensuke I started to worry. What is going on Touji, talk to me."_ She pleaded.

"_I went up to the shrine where I found Shinji and Asuka. I went there to look for any clue as to where they might be now."_ He explained as he took the picture out of his pocket.

"_I found this, it's pretty old but I can tell it was taken in Hokkaido. I want to go up there myself and see if they may have fled to that island."_ He said as he handed her the picture.

Hikari looked at the picture and she too recognized the location. She then began to study Shinji and Asuka, their body language, their facial expressions. She smiled as she noticed that Asuka was midway through her pregnancy and chuckled at the lame forced smile Shinji had, that he always had.

"_I'm going with you."_ She announced as she put her hand on his shoulder.

"_I doubt you remember but Asuka was a good friend of mine, I want to see her again. We can leave the children with my sister and this time of year it shouldn't be hard to get a room at the last minute."_ She suggested as she went to get on of her suitcases.

"_Hikari, this is something I have to do alone."_ He protested but it was too late. Her mind was set and she was already packing her things.

"_Touji we have been married along time and you should know by now that, that macho lone wolf attitude does not work on me."_ She said as she continued to pack. She then proceeded to call her sisters and one of them happily agreed to watch the kids for a few days. The next morning they dropped off their kids and were on their way to Hokkaido.

"So you finally decided to come for a visit?" Albrecht said as he waited outside of a hospital.

"I've been swamped at work plus I just found out she was here." Markus said as he walked up the drive.

"I am shocked she is still alive, I heard her neck almost broke." Albrecht said as they both walked in.

"I had heard that it did but she still managed to survive." Markus responded.

"Either way she is in pretty bad shape, word is she is still in a coma." Albrecht informed.

The two talked with the receptionist and was pointed in the direction of Nene's room. As they entered the room was silent except for the hiss of a breathing machine and the beep of a heart monitor. As they drew closer all they could see was a thing that barely looked human. She seemed less like a human and more like a connection point for many different wires and tubes.

"What could have caused this? Gabriel has spoken so highly of her and said she was a safe driver." Markus pointed out.

"Even so she is still in this condition. Didn't you say that Dr. Hurwitz had mentioned she was working on the skull and that lately she had been seeing things?" Albrecht asked.

"Yeah at first he contributed it to fatigue, but when she described what she had been seeing he started to speculate that something more was going on." Markus explained.

"I am inclined to ask, what was his theory?" Albrecht pondered.

"The person she described was Ayanami Rei, the first child." Markus answered as a cold shiver went down his spine.

"Why would the geist of Ayanami Rei be haunting her?" Albrecht asked as he leaned up against the wall stroking his chin.

"I found a floppy drive with a virus on it strong enough to take down the MAGI; it was made by Dr. Akagi. She made it after she learned the full truth. You may want to sit down." Markus suggested as he too took a seat.

"Ayanami Rei was a clone of sorts of Commander Ikari's wife Yui. Her primary purpose however was to be a vessel for the Adam embryo, however she didn't say how he would be applied. She goes on to talk about her 'romance' with Gendo and a bunch of other ramblings. She then says she is infecting the MAGI with the virus in order to stop Gendo from implanting Adam into Rei thus causing Third Impact." Markus explained as he leaned forward in his chair.

"Forgive me if I find that hard to believe." Albrecht said as he turned his chair around and rested his head on the back.

"I know what you mean but between what Shinji told me and what I read in that confession the puzzle pieces are starting to turn over. I just wish I had the outline to work with." Markus said as he rubbed his head.

"I know what you mean. Where is Shinji by the way?" Albrecht asked.

"I don't know, they didn't tell me where they were going and I'm glad they didn't." Markus replied.

"So what do we do now?" Albrecht asked as he turned his chair back around and leaned back in it.

"We keep doing our jobs until we find answers. I mean hell once we get all three of the MAGI servers up and running the video surveillance alone will tell us what we need to know." Markus responded optimistically.

With that the two left some flowers by Nene's bed and walked back out to the parking lot. As they did someone flashed their high beams as they walked by.

"Okay you have our attention may I ask who's blinding us?" Markus said as he tried to shield himself from the lights.

"So it is you two. I thought I saw your cars." The woman said as she turned down the lights and stepped out of her car

"Ah Frauline Nakamori how are you this fine evening." Albrecht said as he rubbed his eyes.

"What's going on Markus? Why didn't you tell me you were visiting Nene?" Kelly asked with growing rage.

"You were busy and I needed to talk to Al alone. Al suggested that we meet here." Markus answered.

"Why couldn't you talk to him at the Impact Site?" She continued.

"We had to meet somewhere away from the U.N." Albrecht answered.

"I guess you would have to considering you two are members of NERV." Kelly proclaimed slightly disgusted at the notion.

"How did you know we were with NERV?" Markus asked stunned.

"That night I helped you to bed your wallet fell and I saw your I.D. card First Lieutenant Markus Garrett, NERV Special Forces Intel Division." She said remembering the card word for word.

"You finally made First Lieutenant?" Albrecht asked slightly surprised.

"Excuse me but why the hell didn't you tell me and why the fuck would you work for that god forsaken organization again?" She asked trying not to scream.

"Look, I'll tell you everything you need to know…"

TO BE CONTINUED.

Sorry about the long wait between chapters this one seemed a bit long winded but I did try to make it a Touji heavy chapter for all the people who may have felt I didn't use enough of the original cast. Well ten more chapters to go and everything should even itself out. I would like to open up to some suggestions and even a possible collaboration on a chapter or two if anyone is interested. So till next time please keep reading and keep reviewing.


	11. Chapter 11

After Evangelion

Chapter 11

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

"Where do I begin?" Markus asked as he stared at a bottle of light beer.

The three had since left the hospital and met up at a bar just out side of the Impact Zone. Markus and Kelly ordered light beers even though it was a rare event when Markus drank. Albrecht ordered their best import after ranting about how Japanese beer was beneath him. Markus settled on his stool and began his explanation.

"After the incident at Area 51 my mother left NERV and took me with her. For a while it seemed like we had escaped from them. A few years after Third Impact, right before I went to college they found us, either because they wanted to or they had to. NERV had become a shell of it's former self and was now looking for it's former technicians to, I guess, rebuild under the puppet mastery of the United Nations. A month later I went to college and that's when I realized that the UN and NERV wanted me just as much as they wanted my mother." Markus explained as he kept trying to drink the beer but as always could never really do it.

"Well of course they wanted you." Albrecht spoke up.

"The same reason they wanted me because we were both on the list to be pilots." He explained.

"True, but it was clear they no longer needed me as a pilot. To old I guess. Anyway, they found out what classes I was taking in college and through them introduced me to Dr. Hurwitz. It was Dr. Hurwitz who convinced me to rejoin NERV. So while I attended classes I also went through NERV training… Again." Markus said as he finally took his first sips of the beer.

"That doesn't tell me why you rejoined that damn organization." Kelly reminded him while turning up her beer.

"The same reason why I'm here working for the U.N. I wanted answers. My mom wasn't going to tell me, Gabriel wasn't going to tell me there are only three people who can give me what I want and their names are Balthazar, Melchior, and Casper. The MAGI. I learned of this expedition while Gabriel was trying to recruit me. I knew I had to get in on it so I rejoined and am now here." Markus added as he attempted to take another sip of his beer.

"Me I did it for the money." Albrecht said as he finished his drink.

"Look, you are here for the same reasons I am the only difference is you don't have an I.D. card that says 'God's in his Heaven. All's right with the world.' " Markus said as he put down the bottle and turned to Kelly.

"Yes I kept this from you. I shouldn't have but I did. I was falling for you and I didn't know how you would react. I'm sorry Kelly." Markus said, as he looked her dead in the eyes.

"When I saw that card I didn't know what to think. I can actually understand why you didn't, why you couldn't tell me. I believed that you would tell me the truth when the time was right. I decided to let it go under the pretext that our relationship was still new and we were aloud to have secrets no mater how big or small. I guess to nights little episode was set off by my wanting to know more." Kelly responded.

"Should I leave you two alone because it appears to me that you two are about to get all, how you say, lovey dovey on me, and frankly I would rather get sick off too much alcohol than this. " With that Albrecht excused himself and took a cab back to the Impact Zone.

Markus and Kelly stayed at the bar for a little while longer talking about the situation at hand and gaining a better understanding of each other's motives.

"I just wish you would have told me." Kelly said as she propped her head up with her hand and staring at her drink.

"I couldn't. Well not at first anyway. I know how that sounds but especially when I found out that you were one of the children and that your parents were killed. How could I tell you that I was still with NERV? I don't think that is something you bring up on the first date." He explained.

"I guess, so I take it you trust me now." She said turning to look at him.

He smiled and caressed her cheek.

"With my very life." He added as he gently kissed her.

With that the two paid for their drinks and stumbled out the door. It was only a short walk back to the impact zone. They managed to make their way back to the dorms. As they walked through the front door and headed toward the stairs Kelly flashed a sly grin let go of his arm.

"You know I'm still a little pissed at you. So while I have forgiven you and will allow you to continue to date me I'm afraid we will not be sleeping together tonight, blue boy." She said trying to keep a straight face.

Markus just shook his head and smiled.

"Girl even if I wanted to, and trust me I really want to, I doubt I'd be up to it tonight." He said as he started to climb the stairs.

"So men do have some self control. And here I thought that was just a rumor." She said as she continued to tease him.

At that moment Markus would have wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and share a night of passion. But that night would have to wait. They were both to tipsy to enjoy it and to top it off Markus had the early stages of a migraine.

"Goodnight Kelly." He said as he walked up to her, but as he passed her he stole a beer flavored kiss before turning into his hallway and on to his room.

Kelly eventually made her way to her floor and was starting to feel thankful that Markus didn't play along and pursue her. She had always felt that she played a good game of hard to get, most guys she knew liked it when she acted like that but tonight proved that Markus was not most guys. As she stumbled into her room she made her way to the window. A cool evening breeze always helped when she was intoxicated.

As she opened the window a cool breeze blew in from across the lake. It came in from the direction of the ocean as it had a hint of salt on it. The sweet aroma and cool feel surrounded her as she slid out of her clothes. She slipped on a loose fitting tank top and as she began to close her windows she looked down and small the figure of a girl looking up at her.

"Hello Rei, how have you been?" She said half out of it. She closed the curtains and fell into bed.

Early the next morning, Yukino Kano along with Gabriel met in her office for a briefing with SEELE. As before the steal shutter lowered over her window, her door sealed shut, and a part of her floor moved back revealing a large projection monitor. Once the room was dark holographic images of the original members of SEELE appeared.

"Your late with your report Kano." SEELE 1 spoke up.

"Yes, we haven't convened since the German incident. I hope you have been making progress despite the news we have been receiving from out agents." SEELE 5 added

"Gentlemen I assure you that despite the set backs we are well on schedule. The MAGI are proving more problematic than usual but never the less we are progressing." Yukino assured the group.

"And what of your research Dr. Hurwitz? Word on the grape vine is that the skull is registering blue. What else are you keeping from us?" Asked SEELE 3.

"From what data we gathered the blood type of the skull is in fact blue. What's even more disturbing is that tissue is starting to reform. My team has been working on ways to stunt the growth before it can create and A.T. field." Gabriel reported.

"This is most unsettling, I hope you have prepared for the worst. This world can not take another impact, it barely survived the last one." SEELE 1 added.

"I assure you gentlemen that all the necessary precautions have been taken to keep the skull from becoming a fully formed angel. We are also poised and ready to destroy it if need be." Yukino said reassuring the council.

"Have you made plans to excavate Terminal Dogma? Speaking of which have you found the remains of the Eva's?" SEELE 4 asked.

"Not yet." Gabriel spoke up. "But we are in actively making plans to send another team down there. We want to learn from the Germans mistake. As for the Eva's we are still doing scans of the lakes floor." He reported.

"Can you confirm this Ms. Kano?" SEELE 2 asked.

"I have the sonar ships going over every square inch of the late twice, and as far as the excavation is concerned I agree with Dr. Hurwitz. We don't want to hurry into such a potentially dangerous mission. Careful planning is a must in this situation." She said as she leaned forward and brought her hands up to her face. Her glasses reflected the light thus hiding her eyes behind a white glow.

"Very well Ms. Kano. This council trusts your judgment for now. But rest assured we would be requiring you to give us weekly updates on what is going on. The same goes for you doctor. Should anything out of the ordinary occur we are to be notified immediately, understood?" SEELE 1 said in a more stern voice in order to emphasize the importance of the matter.

"That goes with out saying." Yukino replied rather coldly.

"Very well then we shall reconvene next week or sooner depending on the situation. Good day Ms. Kano." With that the holograms disappeared and the room reverted back to normal.

"I swear those old dogs should be replaced. This is not their NERV anymore. The council needs new blood with new ideas. The only good thing is that they are patient in their old ages." Yukino ranted as she turned her chair around and looked out her window.

"Patients, I don't think anyone has that anymore. Honestly I fear unearthing the Eva's." Gabriel commented.

"No you don't fear the Eva's as much as you fear their pilots. They are not children anymore. The last thing these three will want to do is climb in the entry plugs again." Yukino replied.

"Well that is why we chose these three. They merely tasted what was possible then had it all snatched away. We will use that to get them back in. Otherwise they'll just refuse and leave." Gabriel pointed out.

"Should they chose that path, I will consider them the smartest people here." Yukino said as she leaned back in her chair.

Meanwhile back at the warehouse Marcus, with the help of some headache pills, continued to mull over old hard drives and microchips. Equipped with a soldering gun, goggles, gloves, a special mask that fed him oxygen, and Ritsuko's notes he continued to repair every little piece of the MAGI, a task that was becoming more and more tedious. Marcus, not wanting to kill himself, decided to only take on the more challenging jobs. However this morning the jobs seemed more challenging.

Aside from the hang over the thought of Kelly plagued his mind. He was starting to feel that their relationship was truly progressing. Especially when you consider the fact that she still wanted to be with him after she learned he was with NERV. This led to him wanting to drop what he was doing and run to her. But the thirst for knowledge and answers was doing a surprisingly good job at surprising any and all sexual frustrations. However it goes without saying that this was a losing battle.

As he took off his gear to wipe away the sweat from his brow and get in a good stretch his vision shifted toward to his right and there Kelly appeared as if from nowhere.

"Working hard or hardly working?" She asked with a smile.

She was wearing a black skirt with a navy blue button up top, along with her usual lab coat. Her hair was braided down the back as if to complete the package.

"Working hard wishing I was hardly working." Markus responded as he stood up to stretch his back.

"Well I hope your hungry I picked up some stuff from the cafeteria." She said as she held up some bags with food trays.

"It's lunch time already?" Markus asked as he looked at his watch.

"Damn, time flies when you're busy." He commented.

"Only if the work is either engaging or spaced out. I can not tell you how many research projects I worked on that dragged on forever but when it was all said and done only took a few hours." She added.

They exited the lab and headed to the roof for some fresh air. The roof of the warehouse was turned into sort of an out door break room. Some tables and chairs with shade umbrellas dotted the roof and in the center were a couple of vending machines offering the usual water, sports drinks, energy drinks, soda, and assorted snacks. The two got some water and sat next to the railing on the edge of the roof.

"It's beautiful today. Not too hot, a nice cool breeze. It's nice." Kelley commented as she stared at the sky.

"My mom would often tell me about when she was growing up in Florida. She said that during the fall and winter the sky would be the most amazing blue you had ever seen. The best was on the colder days because it made you forget that your face was stinging from the cold moist air that was blowing." He said as he ate some rice from the bento Kelly had gotten him.

"You think will ever experience seasons again?" Kelly asked as she scooted closer to him.

"Who knows, maybe another impact would bring the world back to normal." He theorized.

Up in Hokkaido Shinji and Asuka were starting to settle in to their recently renovated inn. Misato was napping in her room giving her parents some alone time. They chose to spend it relaxing in the natural hot spring.

"_I guess it goes without saying that we will not be opening this place up to tourist any time soon."_ Shinji said as he made himself comfortable.

"_It's a shame this place would make a lot of money. People are attracted to inns like this. It has an authentic feel to it that many tourists are looking for when they visit."_ Asuka responded as she put her towel away and waded into the water next to Shinji.

"_Any idea how long we'll have to stay hidden like this?"_ He asked as she sat next to him.

"_Well at least it's not so bad. I mean I do worry about Misato. She was starting to make friends and live a normal life. I suspect it will be awhile before we can give her that again."_ She explained.

It may have been the steam, or perhaps the feeling of the world closing in but in a rare moment of surrender Asuka rested her head on Shinji's shoulder, which he responded by wrapping his arm around her.

"_I'm not going to let what happened to us happen to her. She disserves better, she's innocent in all this. I love her, and I love you Asuka."_ These words always made her feel uneasy. It wasn't so much Shinji showing a little backbone and acting like a responsible father, it was Ikari Shinji saying that he loved her Asuka Langley Soryu. After all she put him through. The verbal and psychological abuse, everything, he forgave all that and truly loved her like no one else ever did. Her only response was to bury her head in his chest and respond… "Arigato, Shinji. _My love."_ She said as tears began to form in her eyes.

Elsewhere on the island Touji and Hikari had found the location where the picture was taken. The view was in fact spectacular but provided nothing more than a dead end.

"_It's gorgeous."_ Hikari said as she looked out at one of the few remaining snow capped peaks left in the world.

"_It doesn't help though. This was a stupid idea I shouldn't have pursued this."_ Touji complained.

"_Well as glad as I am to hear you come to your senses, we might as well make the best of it. Common you're too young to be a stick in the mud, let's enjoy ourselves. The kids are miles away, we got money to burn, lets relax and have a little fun. You know like what happily married couples do."_ Hikari teased as she took his arm.

He thought about what she said and realized she was right. They hadn't really had much time alone since their last child was born and she had a point they were still young. Just the sight of his wife with a new found energy and spark put a smile on his face.

"_Oh is that a smile? Has the stern stone statue finally cracked?"_ She teased as they walked back to the car.

"_You know I got an idea."_ He said as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close.

"_How about you and me go and buy some expensive sake, find a nice little inn with a hot spring and see where things go from there?"_ He suggested with a smirk.

" _I knew I could change your mind and mood."_ She said as she reached up and kissed him.

They drove around a bit and soon found a place that sold top quality sake. The clerk told them about an old inn with a natural hot spring that had been recently been renovated. He told them that the owners had moved back in and might be offering rooms. Thinking it wouldn't hurt to ask the couple decided to take the clerks advice and set out to find the inn. The sun began to set as they finally found the place.

Meanwhile Shinji and Asuka reluctantly decided to get out of the hot spring. The dried off and did some minor cleaning to part of the spring. Before leaving they add a special water purification chemical as well as some minerals to the water. As they got dressed they heard the bells over the door ring.

"_I hope someone's here this place looks a little more quiet than it should be."_ Hikari said as Touji rang the bells over the door.

"_I think I saw some lights on so there's bound to be someone here."_ Touji said as he gave the bells another ring.

"_You think it's someone from the UN?"_ Shinji asked.

"_I doubt it. If it were they wouldn't bother ringing. It's probably some tourist. I guess we should have put a sign out front."_ Asuka explained.

"_Should we answer?"_ Shinji asked as he slowly inched closer to the door.

"_Just open the door enough to tell them we don't have any rooms."_ Asuka suggested.

"_Common I know there is someone there I could have sworn I heard voices."_ Touji said. Just then he heard the floor boards creek as someone approached the door. He stood back in preparation for the door to be opened.

Shinji approached the door and extended his hand to slowly and cautiously open the door.

To Be Continued.

I'M BACK! I know some of you missed me, maybe two of you who actually followed this fan fiction. Well this one's rather slow but trust that things will pick up soon. It maybe awhile till chapter 12 is up but I'll try not to make the gap as long as it has been. So as usual read and review your comments are appreciated.


	12. Chapter 12

After Evangelion

Chapter 12

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

"_I hope someone's here this place looks a little more quiet than it should be."_ Hikari said as Touji rang the bells over the door.

"_I think I saw some lights on so there's bound to be someone here."_ Touji said as he gave the bells another ring.

"_You think it's someone from the UN?"_ Shinji asked.

"_I doubt it. If it were they wouldn't bother ringing. It's probably some tourist. I guess we should have put a sign out front."_ Asuka explained.

"_Should we answer?"_ Shinji asked as he slowly inched closer to the door.

"_Just open the door enough to tell them we don't have any rooms."_ Asuka suggested.

"_Common I know there is someone there I could have sworn I heard voices."_ Touji said. Just then he heard the floor boards creek as someone approached the door. He stood back in preparation for the door to be opened.

Shinji approached the door and extended his hand to slowly and cautiously open the door.

The door slowly slid open and there stood an old man in a kimono.

"_May I help you two?"_ He asked in a grizzled old voice.

"_Good evening, we were hoping you might have an open room for the night."_ Touji asked as he and Hikari bowed respectfully.

The old man took a look at them and smiled. _"Ah yes as a matter of fact we do. I was wondering when we would see some costumers. We've been closed for renovations for a while now and just recently opened. Please come in by all means."_ He said as he led them in.

Shinji poked his head out and looked around. There was no one there. He looked over at the bells and happened to see a cat trying to catch a moth. He shooed them away and took down the bells and closed the door.

"_So was anyone there?"_ Asuka asked.

"_No just some cat, I took down the bells so we shouldn't have anymore problems tonight."_ He explained as he put them away.

"_That's a relief. Well I'm going to bed, I'm going to go into town tomorrow to pick up some things."_ She said as she walked towards the stairs.

"_I'm right behind you."_ He replied as he started to make one last sweep of the inn.

Back at the impact zone Markus was just getting back to his dorm after working overtime in the reconstruction lab. Once in his room he opened his window, but a folded towel over the slide tracks, and rested his head on his crossed arms while sitting backwards in a chair. There wasn't much wind tonight, and it was still hot. The ceiling fan and a series of oscillating fans helped somewhat. Although the only one that was doing any good what the small desk top one that was aimed directly at his face.

"It's hot." He whined to himself.

Despite the many fans the sound of the chirping crickets and cicadas was still overpowering. It wasn't too bad; he had always found ambient sounds from nature to be soothing. Even the sound of a lone car on a highway wasn't so bad. The dark is always more bearable when there is some sounds. Complete silence was only good during the day when there was more life, more potential for things to happen, a lazy afternoon for example. It doesn't matter the season just one of those afternoons you want to kick back and relax. That is when complete silence is wanted, when it's needed.

At that moment his pseudo meditation was interrupted by a soft knock on his door.

"It's open." He answered, his voiced muffled from his head resting on his arms.

"You work overtime and you don't have the courtesy to let your girlfriend know when your home?" Kelly said as she walked in.

"Sorry, I figured you were asleep I didn't want to disturb you." He said as he looked over in her direction.

"It's okay I would have done the same. Did you get something to eat?" She asked as she approached him.

"Yeah I snagged a bento from the cafeteria before I came here." As he said that he felt her arms wrap around him and her head rest on his back.

"You stink." She joked.

"Sorry I haven't had time to really shower yet." He replied.

"It's okay, I like the way you smell." She said as she closed her eyes and smiled.

"You say that now, wait till we've been going out longer." He said with a slight chuckle.

"Maybe so but right now I'll let you slide." She said as she held him a little tighter.

"Thank you for coming tonight." He said as he put his hands on hers.

"I thought you might need some company." As she said that he stood up and pushed the chair out of the way and sat on the floor.

"I like this." He said.

"Me too." She replied.

The two curled up into each other's arms as the fans blew and the cicadas and crickets chirped. All the while a pale, blue haired girl stood out in the middle of the lake directly over Terminal Dogma site.

Back in Hokkaido, Touji and Hikari started getting settled in to their room. Touji opened a window and sat on the ledge.

"_It feels good up here. Not too hot, nice breezes, we should move our restaurant up here, maybe even open up our own inn."_ Hikari said as she changed into to a kimono.

"_I was thinking hitting the spring tonight before turning in. We could crack open the sake tomorrow, maybe during dinner."_ Touji suggested.

"_That sounds good. I'm going to go into town tomorrow and pick up something's. Nothing much though, maybe just some souvenirs and anything we may need for the next couple of days."_ She said as she started putting away some clothes.

"_Ok, if you don't need my help I was thinking I might do some exploring of my own." _He said as he walked away from the window and started to get changed.

"_That's fine but promise me if you happen to find them call me and come get me. I don't want you doing this on your own."_ Hikari reminded him.

"_Now enough of that I want to soak before calling it a night and I know you do to now come on."_ She said as she pulled him by the arm.

As they walked down to the spring the owner's wife was putting fresh towels into the changing room.

"_I figured you two would have a soak before bed."_ The old woman said as she put away the towels.

"_Yeah, it's been a long day and we need this."_ Hikari said as she entered the changing room with Touji.

"_Well we are glad you decided to come to this inn. There's another inn just up the road that just finished renovations as well. A young family owns it; I met them when they moved in a couple of days ago."_ The old woman said on the other side of the door.

Upon hearing this, Touji's ears perked up and began to pay more attention to the conversation.

"_They keep to themselves most of the time but I did have the chance to visit them when they moved in. They have the sweetest daughter; Misato I think they said was her name." _ Touji and Hikari froze. The people they were looking for were just maybe mere centimeters away and only by chance they ended up at this inn. Hikari snapped back to normal and came up with something to say quickly.

"_Well I guess it's fortunate that we stopped by here. Besides we came here to relax and get away from kids for awhile."_ She said as she pushed Touji toward the spring.

"_Well I suppose so, well you two have fun. Feel free to call if you need anything."_ The old woman said as she walked off.

"_They are right there. Hikari, do you hear what I'm saying I can literally walk over there."_ Touji said as he tried to keep his voice down.

"_Look I'm just as shocked as you are but could you please not obsess over it now. I for one want to relax, you should too."_ She said as she moved next to him and started rubbing his shoulders.

"_Think about it this way, we know where they are and we know they are not going anywhere. Am I right?"_ She asked as she continued to rub his shoulders.

"_Yes, you're right."_ He said with a long sigh.

"_I thought so, so tomorrow I'll go into town and do some shopping and when I get back we will go visit them."_ She said in a light hearted tone.

"_Oh, I'll "visit" them alright… OW!"_ As soon as he made the remark Hikari pinched his shoulder.

"_I don't care how bad you want to I do not want you hurting them in anyway shape or form. I know you want to beat down Shinji and perhaps he may deserve it but you are not doing a damn thing while in the presence of their child do you hear me?"_ She asked him as she walked in front of him and looked him dead in the eyes.

"_Not in front of their kid."_ He replied half heartedly agreeing.

"_Good now that that is settled lets try to have some fun and relax shall we."_ She said as she sat down in front of him.

"_I swear I don't know what or where I would be if it wasn't for you."_ He smiled as he started to rub her shoulders.

He found himself standing on the edge of the dock over looking the lake. The only light was the light of the full moon over head; the only sound was of his breathing. Everything was deathly silent. As he looked around all he saw was the dark shadows that surrounded him. The entire impact zone was dark, not even a motion sensor light was on.

"A power outage?" He thought as he started to walk back to the facilities.

"Wait, how did I get out here?" He wondered.

"You are here because I brought you here." A voice said. The voice sounded like it came from a small girl. He turned and saw her, Ayanami Rei standing in her little brown dress. He looked down at himself and realized he had regressed to about the same age.

"Do you remember when you first saw me?" She asked.

"No, I can't remember." He answered in a voice he hadn't heard since he was maybe five or six.

"Commander Ikari, may I introduce are head scientists, Lukas and Sarah Garrett" A man said as he introduced them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Commander." Lukas said as he shook his hand.

"The pleasure is all mine, I have heard nothing but outstanding reports on the both of you." Gendo replied.

"And who might you be?" Sarah said as she knelt down.

"This is Rei Ayanami; she's the daughter of a friend of mine I'm taking care of at the moment." Gendo Replied.

"Oh, well that is very gracious of you Commander. We have a son about her age." Lukas added.

They took her to a day care that was kept on the other side of the facility. Markus was playing some educational games on the computer when they brought Rei in. His mother brought him forward and introduced the two.

"That was so long ago. I don't recall it even lasting that long." Markus said now age fourteen.

"I don't suppose now you're going to tell me we had some connection." He added as he turned around to see fourteen year old Rei in her school uniform.

"We all share a connection." Rei said in her usual soft tone.

"We just happen to meet that day. It was a random encounters nothing more." She added.

"So why even bring it up?" He asked.

"Even the most meaningless encounters have meaning. Every experience a person has affects them in some way later on in life. That is fate." Rei explained.

"So my meeting you was not a coincidence?" Markus asked trying to understand what she was saying.

"We are pilots of Evangelion units. We have synced with Eva's. We share that experience." She explained.

"True but I was only a test pilot. My experience was only limited." He said now realizing he and Rei were in their old plug suits.

"Why was I chosen to be a pilot? As a matter of fact what are you? That skull we pulled out of the lake that is your skull wasn't it? Are you an angle?" He asked getting frustrated.

"I am a clone of Yui Ikari. My purpose was to fuse with Adam and Lilith." She answered still in her soft tone.

"So you're the cause of third Impact." Markus accused now back at his proper age.

"No it wasn't just you, there must have been others involved." He began to hypothesize.

"People such as those responsible for cloning you, for instance. Also, those who made it possible for you to fuse with Adam and Lilith, and, of course, the person who initiated the fusion." As he said this, an adult female body pressed against his back and wrapped her arms around his chest.

"Keep looking, keep searching, and keep asking questions. The answers are below you." The adult Rei informed him.

He looked down and discovered he was hovering over the Terminal Dogma site and it was Rei who was holding him up.

"How can I trust you?" He asked.

"I'm an angle." She whispered in his ear before letting him drop into the water.

Meanwhile Kelly had found herself walking down a long yet familiar hallway.

"I've been here before." She thought to herself as she walked towards a door at the end of the hall. Over the door a sign in red read "Eva Sync Test in Progress." She reached out and slowly opened the door. In side she saw her parents and handful of other technicians monitoring her progress in the test plug. It had been years but she remembered this session well. This was the day they selected her to be taken to Tokyo to be put on the short list for Eva pilots.

"You were excited about becoming a pilot." A fourteen year old Rei said as she stood behind Kelly in her school uniform.

Kelley turned around and discovered that she too was fourteen and wearing the same uniform.

"Rei Ayanami, what do you want from me?" She said with a hint of fear remembering that those who saw her met with unfortunate accidents.

"You were to be another pilot correct?" Rei asked in her usual tone.

"Yes I was the seventh child." She answered.

"That never came to be did it?" Rei responded.

"You know that it didn't." Kelly replied starting to feel annoyed.

"Would you have wanted to be a pilot if your time came?" Rei asked.

"Of course I wanted to. My parents were so proud of me when I was selected." She answered.

"So you wanted to be a pilot to earn your parents approval?" A male voice asked.

"Who's there?" Kelly asked.

"You don't remember me?" Kaworu asked as he stepped out of the shadow wearing his school uniform.

"I'm sorry you're not ringing any bells." As Kelly said that she found herself in the old NERV reception room.

As her parents filed paperwork for housing and to have Kelly transferred into the school, Kelly sat in a chair reading a magazine, before getting up to get something to drink. She stood at the vending trying to make a decision when Kaworu walked up next to her.

"Decided what you want yet?" He asked.

"Oh yeah I was just about to choose." She replied as she looked through her purse for some change.

"Damn, I only have American coins." She complained.

"Oh, well here you go." He said as he handed her some change.

"Thank you, what's your name so I know who to repay?" She asked.

"Thank nothing of it." He smiled as he walked away.

"So is that encounter supposed to mean anything?" Kelly asked now back to her adult self.

"Maybe, maybe not, either way it happened." An adult Kaworu replied

"It may seem insignificant but even the most insignificant encounter can affect you later in life." He explained.

"So is that why you are here?" She asked.

"The answers you seek are closer to you than you expect." He said as they stood out side of the warehouse.

"The MAGI?" She asked.

"I leave the rest in your capable hands." He said as he disappeared.

At the same moment Markus and Kelly woke up and sat straight up in bed. The looked at each other sweating bullets and wide awake.

"Tell me was your dream as strange as mine?" Markus asked her.

"Depends what did they tell you?" Kelly replied.

"Rei told me that I need to look in Terminal Dogma. Then she dropped me into the lake." He replied.

"How about you?" He asked her.

"Kaworu suggested I look to the MAGI." She replied.

"I hope this doesn't happen every time we have sex." Kelly asked as she fell backward.

"I'll let you know if it does." Markus replied as he lay back down next to her.

To Be Continued.


	13. Chapter 13

After Evangelion

Chapter 13

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

"Working hard I see." Albrecht said as he walked into the reconstruction lab.

Markus turned off his equipment and lifted his mask.

"Thank god you showed up I need a break." He said as he stood up to stretched and popped his neck.

"You know we have an excellent missus on staff maybe you should schedule an appointment." Albrecht suggested.

"So what brings you down here among the worker bees?" Markus asked as he sat back down.

"Relaying a message, Ms. Kano wants to see us." Albrecht informed.

"What did we do?" Markus asked with a hint of confusion.

"Not just you and me, she wants to see Kelly also." Albrecht said as he leaned in close so that only Markus could hear him.

"Let's take this somewhere else." Markus suggested.

With that the two went out onto the roof of the warehouse. They stood at the edge with the door in full view so they could see if anyone else came on the roof.

"So Kano wants to see us, any idea why?" Markus asked as he leaned against a railing.

"Not sure, my source could only divulge so much. It may have something to do with the expedition to Terminal Dogma next week." Albrecht reported.

"Cite your source." Markus said as he glanced over at Albrecht.

Albrecht shot him a grin and a wink.

"That, my friend, is a secret. A good spy never reveals their source to anyone." Albrecht said with a tone of superiority.

"Fair enough, I don't suppose your source had anything else to say?" Markus asked.

"They found Unit-1, or rather what's left of it." Albrecht said in a serious tone that Markus had yet to hear. In fact the news made Markus almost choke on his soda.

"What?" Markus said between coughs.

"Why haven't we heard about it?" Markus asked.

"Kano gave strict orders to be informed as soon as it was found and that no word should get out about it without her expressed permission." Albrecht added.

"How does she expect to keep something like that quiet?" Markus asked as he shook his head and regained his composure.

"I know and it was on land if you can believe that." Albrecht added is tone lightening up a bit.

"Dude, you're doing Kano's secretary aren't you?" Markus accused.

"I think you are over looking the bigger issue here, besides who I sleep with is none of your business." Albrecht snapped back trying to change the subject.

"Well how else could you have gotten this information?" Markus asked trying to keep his voice down.

"Well maybe I know someone and I'm buying the information." Albrecht said defending himself.

"Oh you're buying it alright." Markus added.

"This is childish, let's focus on the facts. They found Unit-1; they are going to start an expedition to Terminal Dogma next week, and Kano wants to see you, Kelly, and me. This could be huge Markus." Albrecht said getting back on topic.

"You're right, I'm sorry. So have you told Kelly yet?" Markus asked.

"I told her before I got to you. In fact she was the one who told me where to find you." Albrecht said as he leaned over the rail.

"So what was her reaction?" Markus asked.

"About the same as yours only she didn't insist we come up on the roof to talk. She would have joined us but she was busy in the biology lab. Since Unit-1 was found on land her department went back to square one on many of their investigations." Albrecht explained.

"Well I better get back to work. Thanks for the warning Al, I owe you, how bout a case of your favorite beverage on me." With that Markus walked back to the door when a page warning went over the loud speaker.

"Would Markus Garrett, Kelly Nakamori, and Dr. Albrecht Weinstein please report to Director Kano's office? Again, would Markus Garrett, Kelly Nakamori, and Dr, Albrecht Weinstein please report to Director Kano's office, thank you." With that Markus looked back at Albrecht.

"Well you called it." Markus said as they proceeded to her office.

"What do you want with them Yukino?" Gabriel asked as he looked out over the impact zone from Kano's office.

"They were always part of the plan. Sure I could have gone out and snatched up Touji or any of the other kids who were inline to be pilots but these three showed great potential and seemed easier to obtain. I mean they have all gone through the training and have had time in the simulators. As a matter of fact Mark and Will both piloted Eva's without incident." She explained as she spun her chair around facing Gabriel.

"Maybe I should start calling you Gendou." Gabriel said sarcastically.

"Let us get one thing straight, they are not 14 year olds anymore. Plus I'm not going to force them to go along with this; they will be free to go if they so chose." She explained.

"Yeah but if they do decide to not have anything to do with this they will be out of a job." Gabriel theorized.

"There is no room in this operation for people who cannot follow orders." She responded as she stood up to look out the window.

Meanwhile up in Hokkaido, Hikari was in town doing some grocery shopping, at the same time and in another part of the store a woman about the same age was walking the line between being incognito while not being suspicious; a very thin line to walk. Of course Asuka had years of practice but it was still quit a challenge to keep her German in check. They say that no matter how well you speak a second language in times of great stress, or any time you loose your concentration for that matter, you automatically revert back to your primary language.

Back at the Inns, Touji was standing outside of the Inn where Shinji and Asuka were staying and fighting an inner battle with himself. Before she left, Hikari had told him that they would visit the Ikaris as soon as she got back from the store. However being patient was not a virtue Touji was willing to commit to at the moment. But he did try, if anything for Hikari's sake.

Back at the store both women found themselves walking down the same isle when they bumped into each other.

"_Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't watching where I was going."_ Hikari said as she bowed apologetically.

"_It's okay; I'm just as much to blame." _Asuka said as she got her bearings.

"_Do I know you?"_ Hikari asked as she took a step closer.

"_I doubt it, I'm pretty reclusive. But then again I get that a lot. I suppose I just have a familiar looking face."_ Asuka explained trying not to seem like she was dodging the question.

"_Yeah I guess you do. You remind me of a girl I knew in school, but she had red hair and blue eyes."_ Hikari explained.

"_What was she like, if you don't mind me asking?"_ Asuka asked.

"_Well her name was Asuka, Asuka Langley Soryu and like I said she had red hair and blue eyes. She was from Germany and she was rather loud and I guess you could call her a bit obnoxious." _Upon hearing this description of her, Asuka fought back the urge to cringe.

"_Wow she must have been something else?" _Asuka said trying to hold back her disdain.

"_She was but that might have been what I liked about her. I found myself admiring her confidence and outgoingness. I was told she was living here and I might be staying in an Inn that is right next to her. I'm going to go find out once I get back to the Inn." _Hikari said as she reminisced.

"_I'm closer than you think Hikari."_ As she said that Asuka took out her contacts revealing her blue eyes, at the same time she pushed back her hair showing the red roots.

"_Asuka?"_ She said just barely able to get the words out.

Asuka nodded and smiled but put her finger on Hikari's mouth. Hikari got the hint and kept her voice down.

"_Asuka, I can't believe it, my god I have so many things I want to ask you."_ Hikari said keeping her voice down to a high whisper.

"_Not here, you're staying at the old couples Inn correct?" _Asuka asked as she put her contacts back in and fixed her hair.

Hikari answered with a nod.

"_Alright then, you can come over tonight. Make sure you are not followed and don't worry about Shinji. I'm sure he'd be happy to see a familiar face for once."_ Asuka instructed her.

The two agreed and went about their day. They continued to exchange chit chat but were careful about what they said to each other. Hikari had to catch herself on a number of occasions but Asuka wasn't too worried. It actually felt good to relax and talk with someone from her childhood. They soon finished their shopping and parted ways for the time being.

Back at the Inn where Hikari and Touji were staying, Touji was sitting under a tree eating an apple and staring in the direction of the Ikari Inn. After beating himself up about it for a while he decided to stop pacing out side of the Ikari Inn like a psycho and go back to the inn he was staying at. So he decided to grab an apple and enjoy the afternoon relaxing under a tree.

"_When you come back down to earth would you help me with these groceries."_ Hikari said as she walked up to him.

"_Oh your back, I didn't hear you drive up."_ Touji said as he stood up and tossed the apple core into the woods.

"_Well I can understand it would be hard to hear when you're so far out in space."_ Hikari said with a smile and chuckle as she handed him some groceries.

"_So how was town?" _He asked as they entered their room.

Hikari let out a sigh prepared herself.

"_I ran into Asuka at the market, and she invited us to visit her and Shinji."_ Hikari said preparing for the backlash.

Touji fell silent; the news had hit him in away and at a time when he really did not know how to respond. He wanted to explode and go on a tirade of some sort, let out his anger in some way. But he held back, perhaps he was still in a state of pseudo Zen from sitting under the tree and getting lost in his thoughts. Also he looked at Hikari, she stood there tensing up, with her head down and eyes closed expecting the worse. Seeing this he did something she wasn't expecting. He didn't say a word instead he walked up to her and gently wrapped his arms around her.

"_I promised you I wouldn't do anything and I prefer to keep the promises I make to you."_ He said as he held her close.

Hikari relaxed and returned the embrace.

"_Touji."_ That was all she could say at the moment as she rested her head on his chest.

"I can assume that by now you three have figured out that there was a deeper reason as to why I perused you three. Markus Garrett, your parents worked on units 3 and 4 and you test piloted unit 4. Albrecht Weinstein, you competed with Asuka Langley Soryu for the opportunity to pilot unit 2 and you piloted unit 2 before getting passed over for Asuka. Kelly Nakamori, you were selected to be a pilot before the dummy plug system went into effect and in fact you were in the process of transferring to the school before all hell broke loose." Yukino explained.

"I always assumed you had an ulterior motive. Especially when I noticed you hired on these two." Kelly responded.

"Before coming here I was, and I'm pretty sure my counterpart here, were briefed of your possible intentions Frouline Kano." Albrecht explained.

"Oh I'm sure NERV explained it all to you." Yukino said much to Mark's and Albrecht's surprise.

"So we're not the only ones playing both sides." Mark said as he instinctively looked over at Gabriel.

"Your right, I am a former NERV Commander. When the U.N. began their crack down on NERV I surrendered peacefully and then I managed to obtain a position within the U.N. However at the same time I was still loyal to NERV. When I managed to get this position I then had my first meeting with SEELE. SEELE then suggested that I look for former children at least three to add to this project. They supplied me with the files and you three stood out to me. So I perused you and brought you here." She explained.

"Okay look I'm the only one here who has no real allegiances to either NERV or the United Nations and honestly I just want to know what happened to my parents, that's it. I'll leave the explorations and the continued studying to you guys. As for me just tell me what happened and I'll be on my way." Kelly explained.

"That's fine; I admire your focus and determination. However you do know that until we can access the security camera footage from the MAGI's hard drive we don't know anything about your parents. When we know something you'll know something." Yukino responded.

"So you're going to force me to help you by hanging that over my head." Kelly protested.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything. You are more than free to leave, if you do you loose your clearance and then you'll have to get your information the same way the rest of the world will, by cable news. I'll give you three some time to think it over. How about we use the old standard. You have twenty four hours to give this some thought. I'll expect an answer this time tomorrow. You are dismissed." She said as she turned her back to them.

The three exited her office and didn't say a word till they were out of the building.

As the sun went down on Hokkaido, Touji and Hikari made their way to up the walk to the Ikari Inn. Hikari pretended to be excited, which wasn't too hard but she was mostly worried about Touji. She was begging and pleading to herself that Touji wouldn't make an ass out of himself by doing something he would regret, like beating down Shinji.

"_Touji?" _She asked as they approached the door.

"_I know what you're going to say and don't worry. I will not embarrass you tonight I swear."_ He said staring in her directly into her eyes.

Hikari looked deep in his eyes and then pulled on his ear.

"_You better not damn you or not only will you never get any nookie from me for as long as you live but I'll divorce you, take the kids and the restaurant understand?"_ She said in a stern voice.

"_Yes ma'am."_ He said in pain.

She let him go, fixed her clothes, put on her best and brightest smile, and then knocked on the door. She was wearing a pink shirt with a long blue denim skirt. She had tied her hair back the same way she did back when she was in school. Not trusting Touji to much effort into his choice of clothing for the evening she damn near forced him to wear something presentable. He ended up wearing a black polo shirt and a pair of dark colored khaki shorts.

After a short wait Asuka answered the door. She greeted them in German and asked tem to enter. She had taken out her contacts showing off her bright blue eyes a rare occasion indeed. She had grown her hair back to its original length and had tied it up in a bun. She wore a dark red shirt with black Capri pants. Around her neck she wore a pendant made from the broken remains of the mind link clips she and Shinji wore when they were in their Eva's.

Shinji stood up and walked over to extend his greeting. His hair was tied back in a low ponytail and his beard was now a goatee. He wore a dark blue shirt with blue jeans and around his neck he wore a replica of the necklace that Misato had worn. However it also doubled as a locket that had a small picture of Asuka holding their daughter.

To Be Continued.


	14. Chapter 14

After Evangelion

Chapter 14

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

With consulting help from Myway

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

Asuka welcomed Hikari and Touji in and led them to the living room. They sat on the couch as Shinji poured some tea. Instantly Asuka and Hikari resumed the conversation they had back in the market while Shinji and Touji just shared an awkward silence. They both had things, many things they wanted to say to the other but the words could not, or rather would not come out.

"_Okay you two will do more than mumble and exchange incoherent syllables at each other all night."_ Asuka said as she noticed Touji and Shinji pretty much trying to avoid each other.

"_That's right, at one time you two were friends now it has been ten years I think it's time you buried the hatchet and got on with your lives." _Hikari added

With that Shinji broke his silence with something rather shocking.

"_Your sister didn't make it out of Tokyo didn't she?"_ Shinji asked in a somber tone.

"_No she didn't. She died in the hospital because it was too risky to move her."_ Touji explained as he fought to hold back his rage.

"_Shinji it isn't yours, or Asuka's fault. I may not totally remember what happened that day no matter how hard I try but I'm sure it wasn't your fault." _Hikari said in a comforting tone trying to keep the peace.

Shinji then stood up and walked over in front of Touji. He then fell to his knees and bowed his head.

"_I'm sorry. Maybe on some level I am responsible and you have every right to blame me and hate me. I know you may think this to be shallow and cheap but it is all I can give. I am truly sorry."_ Shinji said giving the most sincere apology he could.

Touji saw this gesture and didn't know how to react. It would be so easy to just stand up and kick him in the head, but he couldn't. Hikari wouldn't want that nor would his sister.

"_For the sake of my sister and my wife I want to forgive you, but another side of me wants to place all the blame squarely on you. I need some air."_ With that Touji excused himself and walked out side.

Hikari then stood up and called to him but Asuka was quick to put her hand on her shoulder to stop her. Hikari looked back at Asuka two which Asuka replied by closing her eyes and shaking her head as if to say, "Let him go." On the other side of the room Misato from the top of the stairs watched the whole scene. As her parents and Hikari tried to get a handle on the situation Misato snuck down stairs and out the door where she saw Touji sitting on a bench with his face in his hand.

"_Are you mad at my daddy?"_ She asked.

She was wearing pink pajamas and was clutching a little plush doll that was in the image of her namesake.

"_And who are you sweetie?"_ Touji asked as he turned to look at the little voice behind him.

"_I'm Misato Ayanami Ikari. Charmed huh?"_ She replied with a bright smile.

Touji couldn't help but to smile back and chuckle a bit.

"_I'm Touji Suzuhara, you know I have a little girl about your age."_ He replied.

"_Where is she?"_ She asked.

"_She and her brother are staying with their auntie."_ He replied.

"_Do you hate my daddy?"_ She asked rephrasing her earlier question as she sat next to him.

"_I don't know. I want to, well part of me wants to, but the rest of me is willing to forgive him and get on with life."_ He said as he looked up at the sky.

"_He said he was sorry, but mommy sometimes says that sorry isn't good enough."_ She explained.

"_Your mommy's right, sometimes just saying sorry isn't good enough. For one thing you have to really mean it."_ He replied.

"_Do you think he really meant it?_ She asked.

Just then the door opened up and there stood Shinji. Touji turned around and looked at him then at Misato.

"_You know Misato-chan, yeah I think he did mean it. Maybe I can forgive him."_ With that he stood up, walked over to Shinji, and extended his hand.

The two shook hands and with that the two decided it was time to move one with life.

"_I guess men can be sensible creatures when they take the time to use the brain in their heads every once in a while."_ Asuka commented as she watched the two from the living room.

"_Well now that nuclear war has been averted how bout we eat?" _Asuka said as she stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

"_If you two can break away from your little love fest, why don't you set the table."_ Asuka demanded.

"_You never change do you Asuka?"_ Hikari said with a nervous laugh.

"_Now don't get me wrong Hikari, I love him to death but I am not about to let him think he's in charge of this Inn."_ Asuka Explained with a wink.

Back at the impact zone Markus, Kelly, and Albrecht sat in silence in the dorm common area trying to figure out their next move. Each of them had something to say about the situation but neither of them knew how to put their feelings into the proper words. Words other then extremely harsh swear words. But after a while the silence was broken by Kelly.

"How dare she? I mean where does that bitch obtain the gull to treat us like that, to proposition us like that, and to blackmail us like that? Who the hell does she think she is?" Kelly asked trying to keep herself calm.

"Well for us she's our commanding officer, as for you she is just your employer. Honestly I wish I was in your shoes, I mean I have a lot of information about Third Impact as is from the people who can actually remember it but there is still a lot I don't know. Look I have nothing to loose but everything to gain from this. If I were to walk away now and go back to my forensics job back in Florida, all I miss out on his some information, and slightly more pay. I stay because I want to know, will I like what I find? Probably not, but I will at the very least have an understanding as to why it all it all went down and why I was remotely involved." Markus explained.

"As for me I think I am the loyal dog of the organization. I was part of this perhaps since I was born. I was able to become a doctor thanks to them. Do I feel some animosity to those in charge for selecting Asuka instead of me? I use to, I use to hate them for it, but as time went by I got over it but the thing is I never had any kind of hatred toward the organization. I suppose I was one of the lucky ones. If anyone is most likely to stay it is me but then again like I said my experiences are nothing compared to yours." Albrecht explained.

"So we have the loyal dog, the curious cat, and me the confused mouse." Kelly commented.

"I suppose we have our own reasons for being here. For all I know its fate that we were selected and ended up here. If that's so it is not all bad, but I just don't know what to do. I just want to know who killed my parents, when they did it, and where they did it. I'm sorry it's just, I want to be able to go somewhere, a physical location where I know my parents are resting, pray for them, and place some kind of memorial." Kelly said as she leaned forward and held her hands in front of her face.

Markus walked over to her and placed his arm around her. The mood was now somber and quiet as each of them flee in to a mood of deep thought. Their next decision would be a big one, would they stay and continue to work with Kano or do they turn their backs on all of it. Not an easy decision to make but an important one none the less. Just then Markus stood up with an idea.

"We have about twenty hours left. Let's get something to hang over her head." Markus suggested

"What do you mean?" Albrecht asked.

"If I marathon it I can probably access the security camera footage before we have to meet with her." Marcus theorized.

"Are you sure about that? What if you are caught, assuming you can actually get in the lab after hours, what's their stopping the guards from bursting in and taking you into custody? I don't mean to sound negative but I'd hate to see you do something that could have larger ramifications other than you being scolded by Kano." Albrecht cautioned.

"Well Al that is a risk I'm willing to take." With that Markus, Kelly, and a reluctant Albrecht headed to the lab.

As they headed to the lab Markus started barking off a shopping list of items he would need.

"Alright people I have nineteen hours en-counting I'm going to need some energy drinks, sugar free if possible, and Raman, lots of Raman. Oh, and the most important thing of all, my mp3 player. You want this thing done quickly I'll need my music. Common we don't have much time people." With that Albrecht went to get the food while Kelly went to get the tunes.

Back in Hokkaido dinner was in full swing, the conversations were lighthearted. They chose not to discuss Third Impact and when the past did come up they focused on the better times. The fact that Misato was there helped keep the mood up and the conversation from going to more depressing topics. Hikari, for one, could not stop gushing over Misato.

"_Asuka you have a wonderful daughter, she's so smart and polite, not to mention she's so cute."_ Hikari complemented.

"_Well she is my daughter after all. It's only natural that she would inherit my sweet personality as well as my exceptional intellect."_ Asuka boasted.

"_Well let's hope she hasn't inherited your infamous temper."_ Hikari said with a laugh.

"_Or for that matter her over inflated ego."_ Touji said under his breath.

"_What was that dumkoft?"_ Asuka said as she glared over at him.

Misato was glancing back and forth confused then looked up at Shinji.

"_Daddy, what's an over inflated ego?_ She asked.

The question broke the ice faster than global warming. Hikari almost choked on her food she was so surprised. All the while Misato was looking at everyone not understanding why they were laughing.

"_Oh my goodness she is so cute."_ Hikari said catching her breath.

"_Sweetie an over inflated ego is what happens when a person or other people speak extremely high of a person."_ Shinji explained.

"_And mommy has that?"_ She said.

This time everyone went silent.

"_Well the thing about your mommy is that she can back up her boasting, and honestly the self confidence she has that does inflate her ego is one of the many things I love about her."_ He said as he looked over at Asuka and smiled.

After a brief pause Asuka started laughing.

"_I'm sorry sweetie." _She said while laughing but despite that she leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Hikari watched this and moved closer to Touji.

"_I'm glad we came here."_ Hikari said as she leaned against Touji

"_Yeah so am I."_

The evening wore on and group split up. Hikari and Asuka went up stairs to put Misato to sleep while Touji and Shinji sat out on the back porch with carving up a watermelon. Asuka put Misato down, tucked her in, and kissed her cheek before quietly stepping out.

"_You know I never pictured you as the mother type. At one point I figured you hated kids."_ Hikari said in a quiet voice.

"_I was just young and stupid I suppose. Truth is I still had issues with my own mother until that day. The last time I piloted Unit-2 I came to terms with my mother's death and I could feel that she was watching over me this whole time. I forgave her that day and I think my out look had changed for the better."_ Asuka explained.

"_Well I think you are doing a great job with Misato, I wish my kids could be that smart and behaved. And I can't say it enough but she is just so cute, I wonder if she's real."_ Hikari replied.

"_Thank you, but the fact is I may never be a good mother. I'm a wanted fugitive I don't want this life for her. She deserves to have a stable and normal life, not a life where her parents are constantly looking over their shoulders ready to move at a moments notice."_ Asuka said as she hung her head.

"_Asuka you are a good mother. Despite your fears you are raising her right. Right now things may be stressful but perhaps it's only a matter of time till things finally blow over and you can give Misato the life you want to giver her. Don't worry I'm sure that in no time you'll be dealing with teenage arguments and scaring away potential boyfriends before you know. Now how bout we get some of that watermelon before those two finish it off."_ Hikari said after giving Asuka a quick hug.

Back at the Impact Zone Markus was buried deep in one of the MAGI with a laptop, a few tools, and an energy drink. Albrecht and Kelly tried to help considering they didn't know much about computers.

"How's it coming mein fraund?" Albrecht said as he poked his head in.

"It's coming; I think the caffeine is starting to kick in. I'm starting to feel all jittery and shit." Markus said as his speech started to get faster.

"You need anything? Sorry we weren't able to get you any Raman, but I see you are enjoying the hot pockets." Albrecht asked.

"Honestly I prefer hot pockets. Damn, I never realized there was so much damage. On the plus side I am making progress." Markus replied.

"Mark I got those parts you asked for." Kelly said carrying a box.

"Great slide them in." Markus replied as he connected another piece of the MAGI to his laptop to test it.

Kelly slid the box to him and he immediately started applying the parts. He had been at it for three hours, only taking breaks to use the bathroom. Despite that he had made more progress in those three hours than the entire team had made in the past three months. But then again the entire team had been working on all three MAGI and the progress had been interrupted several times. But this night might just wield results that could shift the balance of power. That is until one problem arose.

"Why didn't I see it, it's so obvious damn it." Markus said as he hunched forward and ran his hands through his hair.

"What's wrong?" Kelly asked.

"Good news I've fixed the hard drive that stored the security camera footage. The bad news is there is no way I can put this on any computer I own. For one thing they are protected from transfer by multiple firewalls and three viruses. I can only safely view the information by routing the feed to the temporary files and that is after going through filters and the video feed is like 56k quality." He explained.

"So what does that mean?" Albrecht asked.

"It means we need a change of plans." Markus said as he crawled out of the computer.

"Tell us what to do Mark. We've gotten this far all we can do now is go forward." Kelly said as she helped him up.

As they went over a new plan of action a group of guards started gathering just out side of the warehouse under the direct command of Yukino Kano.

"Ma'am we have the building surrounded, we are ready to move in." The lead guard reported.

"Very good. Ladies and gentlemen your attention please; these three are not to be harmed. We do not know if they are armed or not but if they are you are only authorized to disable them not kill them. If anything this is a show of force and chances are they will give them selves up peacefully once they see your numbers. I will go in first and talk with them; you will all stay put until I give the word. Is that understood?" Kano ordered.

The guards acknowledged her orders as she turned to enter the warehouse.

"What are those three up to?" She asked her self.

"What do they hope to accomplish with this insurrection? If they did anything to the MAGI I'll go so far as to use them as bait to catch those anti Evangelion terrorists." She continued.

She approached the door and slowly pushed it open.

Back in Hokkaido the four parents enjoyed a late summer watermelon while lounging by the hot spring.

"_Okay I have to know, Shinji did you ask Asuka to marry you or did Asuka demand that you marry her?"_ Touji asked as he threw his arm around Shinji.

"_That's actually an interesting story."_ Shinji started to reply.

"_We had separated for awhile so we could create new false identities for ourselves. After that we found each other again and started over."_ Shinji explained.

"_Imagine my surprise when I was walking around college and I saw Shinji there in the quad."_ Asuka explained.

"_So you two managed to get into college?"_ Hikari asked.

"_Yeah that was the true test of our new identities. Especially with the back ground checks they do. But it worked out and we got into college. It was defiantly a surprise when we ended up in the same college."_ Shinji explained

"_Of course I didn't really need college but it was good to get a refresher."_ Asuka said referring to the fact that she had already graduated from college in Germany before she came to Japan.

"_It goes without saying that she graduated at the top of the class, in fact she was at the top of the deans list." _Shinji commented

"_But once we met up we started dating. We were naturally spent a lot of time around each other, if anything out of some familiarity. It was only a matter of time before we started dating."_ Shinji continued.

"_Now to answer your question no I didn't demand he ask me. However I was about to because the dumb ass was taking so long."_ Asuka commented

"_Was taking my time because I was planning it, I wanted to be just right almost ideal. Before I go on I have to ask you Touji. When and how did you purpose to Hikari?"_ Shinji asked.

"_It was early spring. With the climate the way it is cherry blossoms hardly ever bloom these days but on this day they bloomed and in rare fashion. We spent the day among the orchard and I found this one tree that seemed to stand out among the others." _Touji explained.

"_It was so sweet to; he was old fashioned about it too. He actually got down on one knee. Since then I don't think those trees have been quite as beautiful."_ Hikari said as she leaned over and kissed Touji.

"_I asked Asuka to marry me when I brought her up to the shrine after I fixed it up."_ Shinji said as he held Asuka's hand.

"_I had been wondering what was taking him so long and when I saw the shrine and the fact that this guy was able to fix it up. All he had to do was ask." _Asuka explained with a wide smile on her face.

"_She was so impressed she threw her arms around me and that's when I asked her."_ After he said that he reached over and kissed her.

To Be Continued.


	15. Chapter 15

After Evangelion

Chapter 15

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

Yukino Kano Slowly opened the door and as she stepped into the warehouse she found that there was no one there. As she cautiously approached the MAGI she heard a voice, as she got closer.

"I take it you're not alone." The voice said.

"Markus what the hell is going on here? I could have you arrested for trespassing." She threatened.

"Trespassing? I find that hard to believe considering I work here and I used my key card to get in. The way I see it I'm not trespassing, I'm putting in overtime." Markus replied.

"Where are you? Come out and talk to me in person." Kano demanded.

"Normally I would grant you that courtesy but at the moment I don't trust you. So I'm going to leave you guessing." He said.

"Are the other two with you? Nakamori, Lt. Weinstein, show yourselves." She continued to bark out demands.

"They're not here. It's just you and me Kano." Markus said as he stepped out of the shadows.

"So you're covering for them. Well no matter the building is surrounded, there is no where for them to go." She explained.

"Is that so?" Markus said as he slipped back into the shadows.

"Enough of this!" She snapped

"Give yourself up and I promise that no disciplinary action will be brought against you or the others." She said.

"So those are your terms?" He asked.

"Yes and I will only offer them once." She said

Meanwhile down in the basement of the warehouse, Kelly and Albrecht braved the extreme cold of the MAGI cooling system to make it to the emergency exit. The exit was a passageway that led outside in the event of an evacuation. The hurried down the cold corridor to an exit.

"Wait here Kelly." Albrecht said as he approached the exit.

He looked outside and saw two armed guards.

"Well they did their homework." He commented.

"What is it?" Kelly asked.

"Two armed guards. Well two that I can see, we must assume there are more." He suspected.

"Any ideas?" She asked.

"How well can you fight?" He asked.

"I can hold my own." She replied.

"Good stay back and be ready." He said as he approached he door.

He then knocked on the door loud enough for the guards to hear. It worked as on of them approached the door. As the guard opened the door Albrecht grabbed his weapon and pulled him to the ground. Once he did that Kelly ran over the downed guard and pounced on the other guard. He fell to the ground with a thud stunning him long enough for Kelly to grab his weapon and knock him out with the blunt end.

"Good work now lets go see what we are truly up against." Albrecht said as the tied up the guards and headed to the front of the warehouse.

"I have cracked the security camera footage from third impact." Markus said.

"You what?" Kano asked.

"That's right, but first I want information. Why are you sending us down to Terminal Dogma and do you intend on putting us back into cockpits of the Evangelions?" Markus asked

"Of course. The last team that went into Terminal Dogma died as a result we felt it would be better to send you three. As for the Eva's that was our intention all along. You three are the only ones who can pilot them." Kano explained.

"Why do we still need Eva's?" Markus asked.

"We don't know where the Angels came from or if they were all completely destroyed. Remember that scull we pulled out of the lake? It's trying to regenerate; it has a blood type of Blue. They are not all destroyed and they will return. In the mean time how can we pass on a perfectly good weapon to use on rouge nations?" Kano said with a smirk.

"So that's it. You want the ultimate weapon created to protect earth to destroy apart of it. The Evangelions were not created to be a weapon of war against humans they were made to fight the Angels. Why did I not see it sooner?" Markus said with a hint of sarcasm.

"That's the truth Mark, take it or leave it, accept it or deny it, but the fact is the Eva's are first and foremost weapons and if they can be used to bring a quicker end to a war be it with angels or with humans then they should be used as such." Kano explained.

Markus paused to plan his next move when a voice came over Yukino's radio.

"Kano here, what is it?" She asked

"Ma'am we captured two of the suspects as they tried to escape." The voice on the other end reported.

Outside Kelly and Albrecht were seated on the ground with guns in their faces and their hands tied back with zip ties.

"There are always more than you see why wasn't I more careful." Albrecht said disappointed in himself.

"It happens I don't think we could have gotten very far." Kelly said.

Back inside Markus heard this and gave himself up.

"You win Commander Kano. I surrender to you the MAGI. The security camera footage from Third Impact has been deciphered just don't try watching it or downloading it to another computer the protection software will eat your hard drive alive." Markus said as he surrendered.

"We launch for Terminal Dogma in two days, be ready." She informed him.

"Yes ma'am." Markus said as he walked out of the warehouse.

In the back of the warehouse on the second floor, Gabriel watched the entire scene unfold.

"Damnit Markus why didn't you fight. Stop letting her use you like this." He said to himself as he went to exit the building.

As Markus and Yukino exited the warehouse Kelly and Albrecht were released. They were tired and burnt out. Their spirits were either broken or on life support. There was nothing for them to do now but to continue to be parts of the machine. The three trudged back up to the dorm in bitter defeat, and the only thing keeping them going at this point was their original intentions. The search for answers. That very thing was the only reason they had to continue being pawns in this game. But the thing about pawns is, in chess even a mere pawn can put a king in checkmate.

As they approached the entrance to the dorm they noticed Gabriel standing their waiting for them.

"So did she send you to keep an eye on us?" Markus asked as he kept walking.

"You shouldn't have given up. You had a barging chip you should have used to it." He said as they passed.

"Herr Hurwitz, you try saying that when you or your friends have automatic weapons in their faces." Albrecht said.

"Just stay focused and don't let this cloud your judgment." With that Gabriel walked away leaving the three to their own devices.

Back at Yokota, Nene was starting to come around. As she opened her eyes she attempted to look around the room. Everything was blurry and she was still feeling the effects of the painkillers.

"You're awake." A woman said is a soft tone.

"Who's there?" Nene said her voice groggy.

"Why am I not allowed to exist?" The woman said.

"What do you mean? Everyone is allowed to exist in some form or another." Nene replied.

"Then why wont you let me?" The woman asked.

At that moment Nene realized whom she was talking too and her eyes got wide.

"Ayanami?" She said trying to remain calm.

"Ayanami Rei, the first child, pilot of Unit 00, that is what they called me, what he called me." Rei said almost rambling.

"If we let you exist you will destroy this world. You're one of the angels." Nene said wishing she could move and run away.

"Am I really dangerous? Am I even capable of such destruction?" She asked.

"Rei, what do you want with me? Please I'll do what ever you want just stop haunting me." Nene pleaded.

"All I want is to exist, to find my purpose, to not disappear. Is that so bad?" Rei asked as she slowly approached the bed.

"But why do you come to me? Why not go look for Shinji Ikari or any of the other children. What is drawing you to me? She asked beginning to calm down.

"You have made contact with me and did not die. I have tried to contact others but they died. I can not find Ikari." Rei explained.

"There is really nothing I can do to help you, not now anyway. Isn't there anyone else you can ask for help?" She asked.

"There is." Rei said.

With that Rei disappeared. Nene felt a sense of relief knowing that the ghost was gone. She relaxed and looked up at the ceiling.

"I hate unfamiliar ceilings." She said before drifting off to sleep.

"The humans will never allow us to exist Ayanami." Kaworu said as he stood on the edge of an old building at the Impact Zone.

"Are you so sure?" Rei asked as she appeared next to him facing the other direction.

"You can't blame them. I mean our brothers and sisters didn't exactly leave them with the best impression. Then of course there was you and I. Like it or not were partially the cause of Third Impact. We may not have set it in motion but we kept it in motion." Kaworu explained.

"So what do you want?" Rei asked.

"I suppose I'm content with the way things are. But I wouldn't mind being flesh again. But there is more to existence than just being able to walk amongst the humans. You know I think I'll pay an old friend a visit. It was nice talking with you again Ayanami." With that Kaworu jumped off the building and disappeared.

Rei looked over at the dorms and soon followed suit.

Kaworu reappeared at the undisclosed location that housed the remains of the recently discovered Unit 1. It was intact to an extent. A lot of its armor was missing or rusted, so much so that there was hardly any of the blue paint that distinguished it. Most of its flesh had rotted away over time leaving only exposed bone. Exhaust fans were constantly blowing in an attempt to do something about the stench of decay.

There was still some skin and muscle tissue left. Not much and it was similar to that of a mummy. Preserved by the armor that covered it. The entry plug was missing and the slot for it was exposed. All and all Unit 1 fared a lot better than Unit 2. Kaworu then proceeded to jump off the catwalk and floated down right over the face of Unit 1.

"Well my old friend so you have been found I see." Kaworu said.

"You seem in pretty good shape considering you have been dead and buried in mud for the past ten years. I wonder what they have planned for you? Will they try to revive you or clone you? Who can truly understand the motives of the humans with power? Or any human for that matter." He said.

Just then he heard some guards approaching.

"Well my friend it seems my time is has been cut short. I shall take my leave for now." With that he disappeared just as the guards entered the hanger to make their rounds.

To be continued.

Sorry about the short chapter I damn near forced this one out but I think it turned out well. I got to spend a little more time on the Markus, Albrecht, and Kelly for awhile, I got to start something with Rei and Kaworu and I got to touch on something I mentioned in an earlier chapter. So keep reading, keep reviewing and please feel free to shoot me some suggestions.


	16. Chapter 16

After Evangelion

Chapter 16

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

Markus, Kelly and Albrecht reluctantly entered the mini-sub, took their seats and strapped in. The dive wasn't going to take long so there was little time for talking or anything else. They just sat there focused on the mission that they were going to undertake.

Five hours earlier…

"In five hours we will begin the dive down to Terminal Dogma." Kano began to brief.

"Once there we will dock with the seal that was left behind by the German dive team and then begin the excavation." She continued.

Two hours later…

"Here are your wet suits, I imagine they may look familiar to you." Kano said as the three were handed their wet suits in vacuumed sealed bags.

The three opened up and as they pulled out the suits they realized that they did look familiar. They were familiar because they were plug suits.

"Is this some kind of sick joke Kano?" Kelly asked.

"No it isn't. Those are the latest generation of plug suits. Not only are they designed to be worn by adults but they are superior to their predecessors." Kano explained.

Markus was given a dark purple and black suit, which looked like the one that was issued to the fourth and fifth child. Kelly received a blue and white suit that was pretty much a female version of Shinji's old suit, while Albrecht received a male version of the red suit.

"You know I'd be lying if I said I wasn't glad to have gotten the red suit." Albrecht said trying to find something good about the situation.

"You know when they were putting me through the trials they gave me one of Rei's plug suits. You know the white one. We had a pretty similar body type back then." Kelly added.

"This suit brings back bad memories for me." Markus said as he walked to the changing room.

The mini-sub started its descent down to Terminal Dogma. As the sub submerged Kelly looked over at Markus and realized he had not said a word in hours. It was as if he managed to generate his own A.T. Field and was using it to keep people away from him. She wanted to say something to him, for in her eyes it seemed like he was in great pain. She decided to act on her emotions and started to say something as she leaned over to him. But Albrecht quickly stopped her.

"Leave him be Kelly. I know it may be painful but I think it would be best to leave him alone till this whole thing is over." Albrecht advised.

"He's taking the brunt of this, I just wish he wouldn't take it alone." Kelly said as she sat back in her seat.

"He's not alone. As long as we are here, he'll be okay." Albrecht reassured her.

Up in Hokkaido Touji and Hikari started to gather their things. It was tough but their little vacation had come to an end and it was time to say goodbye to their old friends again.

"_You know I wish we hadn't gotten the rental car, we probably could have stayed longer."_ Hikari complained.

"_Don't worry about it, it's not like you could stay forever anyway. You two had to go back home eventually."_ Asuka said as she and Hikari took one last walk around the inn.

"_Well as soon as this whole investigation thing calms down and you three can move around more freely you should come to Lake Kisaki and visit. It doesn't matter what time of year, you can even drop by without notice."_ Hikari urged.

"_As soon as it gets quiet again I'll make sure we do. Till then you are more than welcome to bring the rest of your family up here, I'll even give you a discount at our inn."_ Asuka said with a wink and a laugh.

"_How can I refuse a good deal like that?"_ Hikari replied with a smile.

She then reached over and hugged her, but as she did she couldn't help but get a bit teary. To her surprise Asuka started to get a little misty herself, of course she would later say she got something in her eye and that her allergies were starting to act up. Hikari managed to let out a laugh and said, _"Yeah, mine too."_

The moment didn't last long though. Shinji had run out of the inn to get them.

"_Hey I hate to break this up but you guys might want to come see the news."_ Shinji announced.

They all met in the lobby of the inn and saw the report.

"_Just moments ago the United Nations Third Impact Investigation Team began an ambitious excavation of Terminal Dogma, the very heart of NERV operations." _The female reported explained.

"_This is video taken moments ago. The three who you see entering the mini-sub are three UN personnel, who at one time, were candidates to be pilots of the Evangelion units." _She said as the video showed Markus, Kelly and Albrecht enter the mini-sub.

As she saw this Asuka paused the TV and took a good look then screamed in German.

"_WHAT THE HELL? Who is that and why is he wearing my plug suit? How dare they even consider letting someone else even touch my Unit-2."_ She proclaimed.

"_Shinji what did she just say?"_ Hikari asked as she turned to Shinji.

"_Oh she's upset that they may have someone else pilot Unit-2."_ Shinji explained.

"_Shinji get your things we are going back to Tokyo. I'll be damned if they let someone other than myself pilot my Unit-2." _She said as she grabbed his arm.

"_Asuka stop and think about what you're saying."_ Shinji said as he pulled his arm from her grasp.

"_Despite your feelings toward your old Eva you know we can't go back there. It would be crazy. Not only would they take us into custody but also can you imagine what they would do to Misato? They could very well take her away from us and we would never see her again. What's worse is that if we ever did see her again god knows they would brain wash her making it seem as if we never existed to her. Do you want that Asuka? Do you?"_ Shinji proclaimed.

It was a rare occasion when Shinji stood up to Asuka and put her in her place like that, but whenever it did happen Shinji made sure to put all he had into the argument. Asuka froze in place after hearing his words. She knew he was right oh god was he right. Upon realizing this she fell to the floor and held her hand over her mouth. Tears began flowing from her eyes, which were about as wide as they could be.

"_Oh my god. What was I thinking?"_ Asuka said in a state of near shock.

Misato was standing on the stairs watching her mother breakdown. Asuka didn't like to show weakness in front of Misato but as soon as she saw her Misato ran over to her and threw her arms around her.

"_Mommy, are you okay?"_ Misato asked.

When she heard these words from her daughter Asuka threw her arms around her and held her tight and cried into her shoulder.

"_I'm sorry, Misato I'm so sorry I can't believe I can still be so selfish that I forget what's important to me. I promise I will not abandon you like I was. Oh Misato I'm so sorry."_ She cried.

"_It's okay mommy, don't cry."_ Misato said starting to cry herself but at the same time not fully understanding the situation.

Upon seeing this Shinji got down and placed his arms around them. Hikari and Touji looked on as the outcast family shared a moment.

"_I wish there was something we could do to help you."_ Touji spoke up.

"_There isn't much you can do. Sometimes the past is hard to leave behind and forget."_ Shinji said as he helped Asuka to the couch.

"_This isn't fair you should have to hide. You should be able to be a normal family. I just can't stand watching you suffer like this."_ Hikari proclaimed.

"_There is something you can do for us."_ Asuka said as she began to recover.

"_Tell us what we can do Asuka."_ Hikari said as she leaned closer to her.

"_Take Misato with you. Take her to live with you for the time being."_ Asuka said.

"_ASUKA!"_ Shinji said shocked.

"_Mommy I don't want to go I want to stay with you."_ Misato protested.

"_It's alright sweety. Hikari, Touji I trust you two to watch after her. Shinji we have to go back to Tokyo. Enough hiding and running we have to stand up to them, clear our names and earn our right to a normal life." _She proclaimed.

"_What are you talking about?"_ Shinji asked.

"_We have to go to Tokyo and reveal ourselves, but not to the UN. I have a plan. We go to a major news outlet and tell our story. We get the people on our side thus forcing the UN to leave us alone."_ She explained.

"_Will that work?"_ Shinji asked.

"_Touji you said that Kensuke has a job reporting for a network right?"_ Asuka asked turning to him.

"_That's right."_ Touji replied.

"_Well there you go. We can trust him so we should go to him to tell our side of the story. We win the court of public opinion thus forcing the UN to leave us alone and letting us live a normal life. Maybe even getting the government to make our marriage legal and over looking all the fraud we have committed over the years."_ Asuka added.

"_Should anything happen to us I know that Misato will be safe as long as she's with Hikari and Touji."_ She said.

"_Misato it would only be for a while then Me and your father will come get you and you'll be able to go back to school, make lots of friends and have an actual life._" She said as she picked up Misato and sat her in her lap.

"_You won't leave me right?"_ Misato asked.

"_We won't. You're our reason for going on. I could never leave you, or forget you, or abandon you. I promise Misato we we clear up this whole mess."_ Asuka said as she hugged her again.

"_Asuka, we'll look after her and keep her safe for you."_ Hikari proclaimed.

"_We'll protect her as if she was one of our own." _Touji added.

It was then agreed. Hikari and Touji would take Misato to live with them while Asuka and Shinji went to meet Kensuke to come out of hiding. Touji began calling Kensuke to set up the meeting. After all the arrangements were made Asuka and Shinji shared a heart felt and teary goodbye to their daughter. Hikari and Touji left first, while Asuka and Shinji would leave the next day on the first train out.

As Hikari and Touji left, Asuka attempted to stay strong as Misato waved to them as the rental car drove away. As soon as it was out of sight Asuka turned to Shinji and began to cry into his chest.

"_Lets start getting ready."_ Asuka said as she began to pull her self together.

"_I want to see my daughter again and to do that we must be ready to fight."_ Asuka proclaimed.

"_I'm with you Asuka, just like I have in the past, just like I am right now, and jut like I will be in the future."_ Shinji declared.

Back at the Impact Zone the mini-sub began to dock at the repaired air lock that was left by the Germans. Once the dock was pressurized, Markus, Kelly, and Albrecht walked out into the tube and up to the door. After some cutting with a blowtorch they managed to enter Terminal Dogma.

"Control Center, this is team leader NERV First Lieutenant Markus Garrett, can you read me?" HE asked over the two-way.

"Loud and clear Lt." Kano replied.

"We have entered Terminal Dogma and are now making our way to the Chamber of Goth." He reported.

"Understood, keep me posted on your progress." Kano replied.

"Roger that. Alright lets get this over with." Markus said as the three proceeded.

"So this is where they kept the clones of Rei?" Kelly said as they began examining the chamber.

"According to the MAGI they were all clones of Gendou Ikari's wife Yui." Albrecht said as he started taking pictures.

"The MAGI went on to explain that Ritsuko destroyed them in an act of defiance." Albrecht added.

"It was also an attempt to keep third impact from happening." Markus added.

"Hey guys look at this." Kelly said as she stood in front of a frost-covered door.

"Dummy Plugs." Markus said as he looked thought the window.

"Markus to CC, we have found the room with the dummy plugs. We are now attempting to enter." Markus reported.

"Proceed with caution. God knows what else is in there." Kano warned.

Albrecht then started working on the lock and after about a minute or so managed to get it thawed and unlocked.

As they entered the room, the instillation in their suits was no match for the freezing air in the room. They dawned an extra layer of clothing as they proceeded and began to take not of what they saw. Markus walked up to a control panel and managed to get it to start up. At that moment the lights turned on and a few pods came online. Kelly approached one and began to examine it and it's contents.

"It seems Rei wasn't the only clone down here." Kelly noted as she looked down at one of the Kaworu dummy plugs.

"It also seems that not all the Rei clones were destroyed." Albrecht added as she started taking pictures of a Rei dummy plug.

"Excuse my language but this is some freaky shit." Markus said as he started looking over some of the other pods.

"You can say that again." Kelly added.

"Well this is only the tip of the iceberg. We still have the Eva graveyard up ahead." Albrecht added.

"Yeah we stayed here long enough." Markus said.

With that Albrecht snapped a few more pictures, Markus and Kelly made a few more notes before they all left to continue the excavation. As soon as they walked out of the room one of the Rei clones and one of the Kaworu clones opened their eyes.

It wasn't long before the three made their way to the Eva graveyard. They stood on the edge and stood in awe at the seemingly endless display of the bones of the rejected Eva's.

"This is an evil place. I hope I don't die here." Albrecht said.

"You believe that too?" Markus asked.

"Believe what?" Kelly asked.

"It's a superstition that if you die I an evil place your soul will be trapped there for all eternity." Albrecht explained.

"You know I don't think I can debate that." Kelly added.

* * *

To Be Continued.

Sorry it is taking so long between chapters, I'm going to try to start working out a schedule and maybe have a new chapter out every week or two. Also if any artist out there likes my fan fiction it would be awesome if you could do some fan art for me. I love fan art but since I can't draw a straight line I write fanfics. I like to visit and have tried to post my fanfics there but I have a hard time with how their system works. So if you do make any fan art of my characters please let me know. That would be better than any good review I could ever get. But please feel free to review my work. So till next time keep reading and reviewing.


	17. Chapter 17

After Evangelion

Chapter 17

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

German translation by MyWay

* * *

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of the Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

As Markus, Kelly and Albrecht continued their investigation they found themselves going deeper in to the proverbial mouth of hell. Every couple of steps they came across another watery tomb for another failed unit. Each pool of bones had a story as to why and how it ended up there. Either they died upon completion or perhaps they went berserk as soon as they came alive. No matter what the story the result was the same, a cold watery grave. It was enough to make you almost feel sorry for the giant monstrosities.

They ventured further into the darkness only to find the other wall. Markus attempted to radio in but reception was non-existent. They looked at each other and silently agreed that the next step was to split up.

"We meet back up at the platform in an hour. If something happens activate your beacons. Good luck guys, let's get this over with, give the bitch what she wants, and lets get out of here." Markus instructed.

With that the group dispersed but not before Marcus and Kelly shared a parting embrace.

Back in Hokkaido Shinji and Asuka were finishing up their packing and got the inn ready to be left vacant again. As they were putting away some of their things Asuka started looking through their family album. The last picture that was added was a picture of them in front of the shrine. Seeing this Shinji walked up behind her and put his arms around her.

"_We'll get her back, I promise."_ Shinji said trying to comfort her.

"_I know we will. I hope Kensuke comes through for us."_ Asuka said as she put the album away.

They finished putting away their things and had their bags near the door. They then rolled out a king size futon and held each other tight as they readied for the day to come.

Back at Lake Kisaki the Suzuhara family had finally made it home. Misato had fallen asleep on the way and ended up being carried by Touji. They laid out a child sized futon in their daughter's room and let her sleep. In the morning they would go to

Hikari's sisters house and pick up their children. They tucked her in and stood in the door way and watched her sleep for a while.

"_Do you think they'll succeed?"_ Hikari asked referring to Asuka and Shinji.

"_Those two have a will to survive that I never knew they had. Well maybe Asuka, but Shinji, you know, I never thought he would have been able to survive all these years."_ Touji noted.

"_Make sure you call Kensuke when you get a chance." _Hikari reminded him as she walked down to the kitchen.

"_I'll do it first thing in the morning, right before we leave."_ He assured her.

They both had a helping of instant ramen then called it a night.

Meanwhile down in the Eva Graveyard, Markus, Kelly, and Albrecht continued their now solo investigations before they were to head back to the surface. Their flashlights the only light in the pitch black, but it was so black the light didn't provide much. It was as if it was getting darker the further into it they went. It's in situations like this that your mind starts to turn on you. Every little sound is amplified and causes a person to stop. You try to rationalize everything. Every sound you think has an origin, like perhaps it is your own footsteps, your own breathing, or your own heart beat. But in the vast blackness even your own heart beat is not your own.

Markus's heart was racing. He waved his light franticly just looking for something vaguely familiar. He wanted to call out but the words could not form. His mind tried to rationalize it all, to possibly give him some sense of calm. But to no avail. Amidst the confusion and fear he didn't realize he was slowly backing up to one of the Eva pools. He realized this too late. He fell back wards into the pull let out a scream of terror that echoed through the graveyard. It was also at that moment that his radio came back online and his scream was heard by the surface team. I horror ridden scream followed by dead silence.

The sound of the scream caused Kelly and Albrecht to stop and try to find out where it came from.

"KELLY! MARKUS! ARE YOU THERE? IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?" Albrecht asked as he shouted into the blackness.

"ALBRECHT IS THAT YOU?" Kelly responded.

"IT'S ME ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Albrecht replied as he walked toward the sound of her voice.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE AND KEEP TALKING. AS SOON AS I GET TO YOU WE'LL LOOK FOR MARKUS." Albrecht instructed her as he continued to move her way.

In order to keep herself talking, Kelly started rambling off some random marine biology facts. Mostly just different types of sea life and other random things she could remember. Her speech was broken up by a nervous stutter.

"That's it Kelly just keep talking I'm getting closer." Albrecht reassured her.

"Al, wait a second, I think I hear something." Kelly said as she looked around.

"What is it?" He said as he stopped in advance.

"I hear another set of footsteps." She said.

"There it is can you hear it?" She asked as she started to shake.

"I don't hear anything. Your mind is probably messing with you. Just calm down and let me come to you. After that we'll find Markus and get out of here." Albrecht explained as he started to approach her.

"Albrecht someone else is here, I don't think it's Markus." Kelly said as her breathing started to increase.

Albrecht was now close enough to where he could see Kelly's flashlight franticly pointing in every direction. But then the light stopped moving as if it was focused on something. Whatever it was it was Albrecht could not see as Kelly was between him and whatever she had her light on.

"Kelly what is it?" Albrecht asked as he started to rush to her position.

"Kelly stood in horror in what she saw. The color had left her face and she couldn't move.

"Rei?" She asked in a barely audible whisper.

"You shouldn't be here." Rei said.

Kelly wanted to scream, she wanted to run, but her legs were stiff and she couldn't breathe. Rei walked slowly towards her and placed her hand on Kelly's shoulder. Kelly's eyes then rolled to the back of her head as she fainted to the floor. Her flashlight turning off as it hit the floor.

As soon as Albrecht got to her he made sure she was okay and made a hurried attempt at reviving her but to no avail. He then picked her up and placed her over his shoulder just thankful that she was breathing. He then started to look for Markus. He called out his name a few times before he heard any kind of response. He heard the sound of water splashing and the sound of someone coughing and gasping for air.

Markus had managed to pull himself out of the pool and craw forward a few feet before collapsing from exhaustion.

"Damn you just had to be soaking wet." Albrecht said as he picked up Markus and started dragging him to the entrance. Once at the ladder he tied a line to Kelly then started to pull her up before doing the same to Markus. It was then a mad dash to the exit. On his way something caught his eye. The room with the dummy pods was opened and so were the pods. Seeing this made Albrecht move a little faster, well as fast as someone could with two passed out people, one of them soaking wet. He finally made his way to the mini-sub and ordered the pilot to get them out of there.

Once on the surface Markus and Kelly were rushed to the infirmary leaving Albrecht to deal with Kano himself.

"Lt., what happened down there?" Yukino demanded.

"I'll have a full report for you tomorrow. Right now I'd like to check on my friends." Albrecht replied his voice a mix of concern and frustration. Not to mention he was exhausted himself.

"Fine then, I'll expect your full report by noon tomorrow in my office." Yukino instructed as she walked away.

"Oh and I am to be notified as soon as those two regain consciousness." She added.

"Yes ma'am." He said holding back the urge to scream at her.

"No, better yet I want the report from all three of you at the same time." She said as she stopped ant turned around.

Once Markus and Kelly are awake all three of you are to report to me immediately. Do I make myself clear Lt.?" She asked.

"Crystal." He replied.

"Good, you are dismissed Lt." With that she walked back to her office.

Albrecht stood and watched her for leave before heading to the infirmary to check on his friends.

Three days later Kensuke walked the down to the hotel district of Tokyo looking to meet with Asuka and Shinji. Once they were settled in Tokyo they called Touji who then called Kensuke to finalize the meeting plans. Kensuke would have preferred to have this meeting over the phone but he knew that special measures had to be taken. He had not talked to either of them in so long and had only seen them in Touji's pictures. He soon found the hotel the two were staying in. It was rather old and advertised some rather cheap rates. It seemed like a normal hotel, not seedy and run down, or some love motel, just an average looking hotel.

He made his way to the room and nervously knocked on the door. What followed was a long awkward silence. After maybe a minute the door slowly opened to a pitch-black room. Kensuke slowly walked in almost expecting an ambush.

"_It's me, Kensuke. I swear I came alone."_ He said with a hint of fear.

He then pulled out his cell phone and brought the recent call list.

"_Here's the proof. Touji called me and told me where to find you."_ He said.

With that the door closed behind him and the lights came on.

"_It's good to see you again Kensuke." _Shinji said as he reached out to shake Kensuke's hand.

"_Shinji, it's been awhile. Asuka, still stunning as ever."_ He said starting to feel a little more comfortable.

"_Well naturally, but lets get straight to business. We want to give you an exclusive interview. We want to let the U.N. know that we are still alive and want to be left alone, and in the process get the people on our side so they will listen."_ Asuka explained.

"_Are you sure you want to do that. There is no way to guarantee your safety, plus it will be hard to win over the people seeing as how many of them still blame the Eva's for the destruction of the city."_ Kensuke explained.

"_It shouldn't be too hard to win them over after we explain what went on. As for our safety, we managed to live this long so I'm not worried."_ Shinji said in an attempt to reassure Kensuke.

"_It's still to risky. Not only would you be in danger but me too as well as Touji and his family."_ Kensuke said trying to make a counter point.

Upon hearing this Asuka, her frustration clearly visible at this point, slowly approached Kensuke and looked him dead in the eye.

_"Kensuke, I don't think you understand how I am truly feeling right now so I'll demonstrate just how "upset" I really am."_ She said in Japanese.

Asuka then as if from nowhere grabbed Kensuke by his shirt and slammed him against the wall. Then in the harshest voice she could muster without raising her voice she conveyed her true feelings in her native tong.

"Hör mal zu, ich bin auf der Flucht und hab mich versteckt seit, was...

Sechszehn Jahren? Ich hab die Schauze voll davon abzuhauen... Ich hab auch

wirklich keine Lust mehr mich zu verstecken, und ich hab's bis hier

ständig jeden anlügen zu müssen, und als wäre das nicht schon schlimm

genug hab ich meine Tochter seit DREI TAGEN NICHT MEHR GESEHEN!" She proclaimed as tears started to form in her eyes.

Despite the on set of tears she stayed stern and focused she still had a look that could kill a person several times over.

"So Kensuke, du wirst uns jetzt helfen. Du wirst genau das tun was ich dir

sage, denn sollte ich dich nochmal in deutsch zur Sau machen müssen wird es

das letzte sein, was du in deinem Leben zu hören bekommst, IST DAS KLAR??" She proclaimed.

She then let him go and walked back over to Shinji making sure to turn her back to Kensuke.

"Shinji, übersetzen!" She ordered as she stood next to Shinji her back still turned to Kensuke.

Shinji then proceeded to translate what she said in Japanese but in a calmer tone.

To Be Continued.

* * *

I am so sorry it took so long. Life got in the way what with work another fanfic I'm writing plus an original work of fiction that I'm working on. I just got caught up. Hopefully I'll have another chapter soon but I am not making any promises. Special thanks to Myway for the German translation.

Here is Asuka's ultimatum to Kensuke as I wrote it, again special thanks to MyWay for translating.

"Listen, I have been running and hiding for, what is it sixteen years now? I am tired of running, I've had it with hiding, I'm sick of lying, and to top it all off I haven't seen my daughter in THREE DAYS!" She proclaimed as tears started to form in her eyes.

Despite the on set of tears she stayed stern and focused she still had a look that could kill a person several times over.

"Now Kensuke you will help us, you will do as I instruct of the next time you hear me berate you in my native language it WILL be the last thing you ever hear." She proclaimed.

She then let him go and walked back over to Shinji making sure to turn her back to Kensuke.

"Shinji, translate." She said in Japanese.


	18. Chapter 18

After Evangelion

Chapter 18

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie.

* * *

"Have they come to yet?" Yukino asked as the setting sun hid her in the shadow of her chair.

"Not yet Fraulein Kano, whatever happened to them down there did more damage to their psyche then we initially thought." Albrecht explained.

"There have been reports of strange sounds coming from Terminal Dogma. What did you three encounter down there?" Yukino asked as she sank back in her chair, her hands crossed in front of her face.

"Per your orders Fraulein Kano, I will deliver my report along with my colleagues as soon as they are able." Albrecht said as he turned to leave the office.

"I have not dismissed you yet Lt. Weinstein." Yukino said as she stood up and slammed her palms on her desk.

"Until I report back to you with Markus and Kelly I am not your Lieutenant. I'd prefer you referred to me as Doctor Weinstein." Albrecht said as he looked back over his shoulder.

"Get out of my sight." She silently snapped choosing not to raise her voice.

As he walked out of her office and down the hall he got an idea, a theory as to what their next move should be. In order to see it through though he had to find someone who he hoped would aide him in his theory.

Back in downtown Tokyo three, Kensuke was meeting with Asuka and Shinji this time to coach them for their television appearance.

"_Now remember the goal is to sway public opinion in your favor so we need to go over every little detail until we get it right."_ Kensuke explained.

"_Ok, seriously I have grown since we last met Kensuke. I think I know how to control myself in public."_ Asuka said feeling insulted.

"_Look I'm not going to get into a fight with you Asuka. Frankly I don't know how much you've grown and from where I'm sitting you still seem like that fiery girl I knew back then. One thing I want to do is maybe use that fire to our advantage. I mean lets' face it, it's going to be hard for you to play the victimized mother." _Kensuke explained.

Asuka leaned forward getting ready to respond when she thought about what he said for a second then leaned back in her chair.

"_Kensuke you are no longer allowed to be right understand."_ She said with a frustrated pout.

As they continued with the practice it was becoming clear that Asuka was having trouble "sticking to the script" as it were. She kept getting carried away, her inpatients getting the best of her.

"_Alright that's enough; I can't do this whole act thing. I mean doing it to keep from getting noticed at the temple was one thing but now you asking me to act while at the same time being myself."_ She said rubbing her head.

"_She has a point, you can tell us what to say and all that but you can't control how we say it. We're tired and frustrated. We just want to get this over with and if at all possible go back home with our daughter."_ Shinji calmly explained.

"_Well there is now way I could ever fully understand so I'll trust you on this. Just give the statement another once over and be ready for tomorrow. We go live at noon so look over the statement and get some rest."_ Kensuke added as he started to get up and gather his things.

As he started toward the door Asuka reached out and put her hand on his shoulder.

"_Commit what I am about to say to memory because you may never hear it from me again. Thank you Kensuke, thank you for helping us."_ She said with a strong sense of sincerity.

"_Anything for friends."_ He said as he walked out the door.

"_Always have to have the last word don't you?"_ Shinji said as he wrapped his arm around her.

"_I hate how you know me so well." _She replied.

In Lake Kisaki the Suzuhara house hold was having issues of their own with a member of the Ikari family. Over the past couple of days Misato had been eating less and less and the only time she sleeps is when she gets so exhausted from staying awake waiting for her parents.

"_Miso-chan, sweetie you have to eat something."_ Hikari said as she brought her a bowl of rice.

"_No thank you. I'm not hungry."_ She said politely as she pushed the bowl away.

"_Miso-chan you have to eat or else when your mommy and daddy come back your mommy is going to kill me for not feeding you. Common just eat a little bit please."_ Hikari said trying her best to convince the girl to eat.

It was obvious she missed her parents. At first things were okay and she was eating and behaving normally. That all changed half way through the second day of being with the Suzuhara's she started to get more subdued and was eating less. She would stay up all hours of the night looking out the window waiting for her parents. The other children in the house tried their best to include her but they lost interest more and more as she became more distant.

"_Misato I'm just worried about you. We're all worried about you. I know you miss your mom and dad sweetie but they are doing this for you, so please eat up. Eat if not for me, if not for us, then for those who are fighting for you." _As Hikari said this Misato picked up her chop sticks and started eating. Either the speech worked or she was just hungry. Either way Hikari took it as a small victory on her part and smiled.

Later that evening Hikari put Misato to bed and as she went back down to the living room she noticed Touji coming out of his dark room.

"_Did she eat?"_ He asked as he ran a towel over his sweat soaked face.

"_She cleaned out the bowl and she actually fell asleep. I'd say I rule."_ She said as she sat down in the center of the couch with her arms rested on the top.

"_You don't have to convince me. I've always known it."_ He said as he sat next to her.

"_So you think they'll make the announcement soon?" _She asked as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"_Soon I'd suspect. I haven't heard from Kensuke so I assume the time is near. I just hope they know what they're doing."_ He said.

"_All we can do for now is wait."_ She replied.

As Albrecht walked back to the infirmary he decided to stop for a moment and sit on a park bench. He then pulled out his cell phone and made a call.

"Albrecht it's you. Any change in Markus and Kelly's condition?" The person on the other end asked.

"As of right now Dr. Hurwitz, there is no change. I'm on my way to check on them now though so hopefully there will be some positive changes when I get there." Albrecht explained.

"I suppose Kano is riding you pretty hard about what happened in Terminal DOGMA." Gabriel added.

"You're right she is. I don't think Markus and Kelly will be given much time after their comas before they have to report to her. But that is why I'm calling you. I feel we should purposely withhold information from her until she gives us some answers or at the very least give her information in return for letting us leave all this behind." Albrecht explained.

"I hate to tell you this Albrecht, but the reality is you are in no position to negotiate with her. She's becoming too powerful for us to deal with. I've spent time with her and if I weren't a man of science I'd say she was possessed by the spirit of Gendo Ikari." Gabriel explained.

"Don't joke like that. It belittles your intellect." Albrecht responded almost taking it seriously.

"Your right but the fact remains you need to play your cards right. I won't be there to protect you guys. I've just been put in charge of the restoration of Unit-1 plus I'm still in charge of dealing with the skull so I'm pretty much stuck here at Yokota." Gabriel replied.

"I understand. I'll proceed with caution for this point on." Albrecht added.

"Sounds good, keep me posted on any new developments." With that Gabriel hung up.

Feeling a little defeated Albrecht stood up and continued back to the infirmary to check on his friends.

Albrecht sat looking over his two friends, watching for any sign that they were going to come out of their comas.

"What happened to you two down there? I wish I could have been of more help." Albrecht said in an almost exhausted tone.

"Al? Al where the hell am I?" Markus asked half out of it.

"Markus? Please tell me I'm not making this up." Albrecht asked as he shot up out of his chair.

"Okay I'm in the infirmary so that answers that question. I guess I should ask what day is it." Markus asked as rubbing his head.

Albrecht looked at his watch.

"In a few more hours you would have been out five days." He replied.

"How's Kelly?" Markus asked.

"She's still out." Albrecht replied.

"Shit, Al what happened down there?" Markus asked as he slowly brought up his bed.

"I was hoping you could tell me." Albrecht said as he walked over to his friend to check his vitals.

"All I remember was hearing some footsteps. I started to panic and next thing I knew I was falling backward in one of those pools. I don't even know how I got out. I guess my body took over and started pulling itself out. I guess that was when you found me." Markus explained.

"You passed out just as you pulled yourself out. I had to carry you and Kelly out of there. Now Kelly I didn't mind so much but you. You're heavy enough as it is but the very fact that you were soaking wet. You owe me fat ass." Albrecht said jokingly.

"Bite me." Markus said with a slight laugh.

"Well everything seems fine. I'll get you some food but don't expect much. I know you've been sleeping this whole time but you still need to take it easy so for now nothing too solid." Albrecht explained as he annotated his notes.

"No problem doc." Markus said.

"Oh by the way Kano wants a report and soon." Albrecht added.

"That doesn't surprise me." Markus replied.

With that Albrecht went to go get some food. As he left Markus looked over at Kelly who was still out of it. Despite her outer appearance on the inside she was much more alive.

In her head she was constantly being visited by Kaworu.

"How much longer do you need me?" She asked.

She was sitting in a class room still in her plug suit while Kaworu stood at the head of the class.

"I suppose I've strung you along long enough. Have you ever wondered why you were spared from the NERV massacre?" Kaworu asked.

"My parents found out about raid and sent me home." She replied as she crossed her arms.

"How do you think they found out?" He asked slyly.

"This is a dream, how do I know you're not going to say something I want you to say?" She added.

"You make a valid point but if you consider what I am and have been capable of you may start to reconsider your theory." He added.

"Touché." She replied in a huff.

"I informed your parents of the coming storm. Because I felt there was something about you." He noted.

"Why me? Why not the other members of NERV? Why not the technicians or anyone like that?" She asked frustrated.

"All the people who were to survive survived. In fact the technicians would have survived too if they weren't in Central DOGMA. But you were a pilot and all of you had to survive. There is still a purpose you have yet to serve." He explained.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me what that purpose is?" She asked confused and slightly defeated.

Kaworu then walked up to her and got close to her face.

"Well first you have to wake up." With that it all went white.

Next thing she knew the ceiling was starting to come into focus. She then moved her head to one side and saw Markus and Albrecht eating and talking.

"I fucking hate Kaworu." She said as she slowly came too.

That night Shinji stood at his hotel window looking out on the city unable to sleep.

"Can't sleep either?" Asuka said as she walked up behind him.

"To tell the truth I haven't been able sleep since we got here. Tonight just happens to be even more difficult." He explained.

"I know what you mean, but tomorrow is huge. If we ever needed sleep tonight is the night." She added.

"Any ideas?" He asked as he turned around and wrapped his arms around her.

"Well if you think about it we are under an extreme amount of stress and right now I can only think of one thing that might help." She said slyly.

"Normally I'd say this isn't the time but honestly I think we both need a bit of stress relief." He added.

"Just shut up and get to work you." She said with a grin.

The sun started to slowly shine over the mountains. At the impact zone Albrecht was going over the reports with Markus and Kelly while wishing Yukino had some patients. He knew that Markus and Kelly were in no shape for an early morning meeting with the boss. In their hotel room Shinji and Asuka were woken up by the rays of light shining into their. They thought about closing the window but decided to let it shine. Also Shinji always liked the way the morning sun shone on Asuka's skin and hair. Many a morning he would spend counting the freckles on her skin and there was something about her hair in the morning sun. It was different when it was black. It was bad enough she had to cut it short but it was when she dyed it black that's what hurt. He missed the way it looked. There was something about the morning sun that really made her shine like fire on a red surface. He only wished it could be longer but for now he was just glad it was red again.

"Are you ready for this?" He asked as he whispered in her ear.

"If it means no more hiding and living in peace. I've never been more ready. But we may have to move again." She replied.

"I was thinking that too. We may be able to stay in Hokkaido or I was thinking maybe we could move down to Okinawa. I hear people are starting to go back and resettle the parts of the island that are habitable. I was thinking we could go there, be away from everything, plus land would be cheap if we get there early enough." He suggested.

"As nice as that sounds I like Hokkaido better. Too bad we'll have to give up the shrine though." She replied.

"I know. But give it some time and all this will calm down and we can be normal." He said optimistic.

"Yeah I guess the outcome is worth going through the firestorm we're going to cause. Here's hoping the UN leaves us alone." She added.

"Here's hoping." He added as he kissed her cheek.

To Be Continued…

* * *

Sorry for another long delay and a short chapter but things are about to pick up so look forward to it. Remember I love hearing from my fans and not just reviews. Suggestions and ideas are always good. Plus if you have a character you want added into the story, if they have a good background I might be able to work them in. Also if any artist out there likes my stuff it would mean so much to me if you did some fan art of my characters. Honestly that right there would make this all worth it. So till next time keep reading and reviewing.

Oh if you like Full Metal Alchemist please check out my Full Metal Alchemist fan fiction, "State Alchemist and Soldiers."


	19. Chapter 19

After Evangelion

Chapter 19

A fan fiction based on the universe of the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series created by Hideaki Anno, Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and Ikuto Yamashita.

Fan fiction written by Jaxson Jaguar

Disclaimer time, I do not own any reference to the Neon Genesis Evangelion. Hideaki Anno created the world of Neon Genesis Evangelion, to include NERV, the Eva's, the characters, and places originally seen in the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga. This fan fiction will contain original characters of mine but I'll do my best to keep the interaction between my characters and the original characters to a minimum.

This fan fiction is if anything my way of finding answers to questions left unanswered by the last Eva movie. This fan fiction will follow an international team whose mission is to find the Magi computers and get them up and running. The secrets lie at the bottom of a crater created by Third Impact. Amidst the team are three specialists who were once selected to be Eva pilots they now journey to the place where all the answers lie. Also the new Eva movies have slightly complicated things so for now just assume the new movies never happened. All times are in military time.

* * *

0900 Tokyo III, NERV Headquarters

"First Lieutenant Markus Garrett, Dr. Kelly Nakamori, and Medical Doctor/First Lieutenant Albrecht Weinstein. You three are here to submit your report your findings of your investigation of Terminal Dogma. Due to the urgency of these proceedings I have waived the need for individual written reports, instead every word you say here is being recorded and transcribed," Yukino explained.

She proceeded to press a button on her desk, which lowered the blinds of her office.

"I can imagine after being out for five days has left your minds a bit hazy so to help things we are going to watch the video feed from your investigation in hopes that it will jog your memories," she added with a tone in her voice that suggested she was enjoying forcing these three to relive a traumatic event.

0915 Tokyo III Television Station

Kensuke hurried to get Asuka and Shinji to the green room and ready for their appearance.

"_I wish you guys had gotten here earlier. We're going to have to either rush or forego makeup,"_ Kensuke said as they got to the studio.

"_Whatever just get me in front of those cameras. How I look is the least of my worries right now,"_ Asuka explained.

"_Don't worry Kensuke she applied makeup on the way here,"_ Shinji explained.

The three hurried down the hall and were soon met by Kensuke's Producer. His Producer explained that they were set to go on in fifteen minutes, but if they need to they can stall. Kensuke thanked his Producer as the two went into makeup.

"_Okay point of no return guys. I need to know that you guys are ready to pull on the heartstrings of a nation while exposing a HUGE international secret,"_ Kensuke said as he paced the room.

"_Everything is good on our end Kensuke, but the bigger question is are you ready? Has your research team done its job?"_ Shinji asked.

"_Everything is solid on my part. Our teams of research interns are some of the best in the industrie. Of course it helped that I had first hand knowledge myself,"_ Kensuke boasted.

"_Not like us,"_ Asuka added.

0925 Outside Yokota Air Base, A local apartment building

"Is everything in place?" A man asked.

"We're waiting for our man on the ground to be in place. We'll be firing blind," another man asked.

"He needs to hurry, we only have five minutes," the first man added.

"Despite what the lady says we can't do anything unless those doors open."

As he said that a spotter reported that the hanger doors were beginning to open. On the ground outside of the base a man with a gun like device on his back was scrambling for a clear view of the hanger. He soon managed to find a spot with a clear view to the hanger. He took the device, took aim, and fired a laser into the hanger. The device was not a weapon but rather a device for targeting.

"We have target confirmation launch the missiles," One of the men announced.

At that moment the two men in that apartment and two men in another apartment at the end of the street set a timer and exited their apartments.

0930 Tokyo III Television Station

"_Welcome back, as promised we have a special report that could shake our government and possibly the governments of other countries to their very core,"_ a female reporter announced.

"_Here with me now are two people who as children were pilots of the Evangelion robots."_

As she said that a light came on revealing Asuka and Shinji sitting together on a couch. Over at NERV, Yukino's secretary was in the break room getting a drink when she looked up at the TV and saw the two. Once she realized who they were she turned up the TV and pulled out her cell phone.

"_For the skeptics out there, we want to assure you that our team has done the research and has confirmed the identities of our guests. They are who they say they are and they have agreed to share their incredible story with us."_

"_I'm sorry I have to interrupt the interview," an anchorman said._

"_This just in, the authorities along with the U.S. and Japanese military have confirmed that there has been a terrorist attack on Yokota Air Base._

_Moments ago two explosions were reported at a hanger in Yokota Air Base. Early witness accounts as well as surveillance video is showing two missile like objects impacting the hanger," _he reported.

Back at NERV the secretary was now sprinting down the hall towards Yukino's office. Chaos was slowly starting to take hold of the staff the closer the secretary got to Yukino's office.

Meanwhile in her office the video portion of the report hand ended. Yukino left the blinds closed but faded up some lights.

"Alright lady and gentlemen, where do we begin?" She asked.

At that moment her secretary burst into the office screaming for Yukino to turn on the TV. Yukino fought back the urge to rip her secretary a new one but she knew that she wouldn't burst in like this unless it was major. Yukino turned on a TV in her desk and as soon as she read the headline her eyes went wide.

"You three are here by confined to quarters until further notice. Better yet you cannot leave this building," she proclaimed much to the confusion of Mark, Kelly, and Albrecht.

"What's going on?" Markus asked as security guards entered the room to escort them to a holding location.

"Yokota has just been attacked. No the hanger holding Unit 1 and the skull has been attacked," she explained.

The three stood in a state of shock. Markus and Albrecht knew that Gabriel was there and were concerned for his wellbeing while Kelly was still trying to make sense of what was just said. But before either of them could ask any more questions they were being led out at gunpoint.

"We've got to get out of here and get to Yokota," Markus noted.

"I agree but while it would be easy to get out of here getting to Yokota would be damn near impossible at this point. The roads are closed and any aircraft that comes within sight of the air base will be shot down," Albrecht explained.

"So when it's all said and done we are hostages of our situation," Kelly added.

At the TV Station Asuka, Shinji, and Kensuke sat in the green room watching the events unfold.

"_Get out of Tokyo, go get your daughter, and go back into hiding. This will dominate the media for months now. You've waited this long, what's another month or two?" _Kensuke said trying to see though the chaos.

"_Of all the times to have a terrorist attack. Well at least it happened before we spoke,"_ Asuka added trying to find something good in the situation.

"_Kensuke, I thank you for your suggestion but right now there is no way we can leave. They probably got every road blocked and plus checkpoints,"_ Shinji chimed in while Asuka attempted to call Hikari and Toji to check up on Misato.

"_We'll go back to the hotel and figure things out," _Shinji added.

At that moment Kensuke's producer burst in and started giving him orders. She told him that they want him at Yokota to cover the event. She also assured Asuka and Shinji that if they were up to it they were welcome to come back and try to tell their story again. They agreed and the Producer assured them that their hotel will be paid for up to the end of the week and if they need help getting out of Tokyo that they will be given press passes to help them move through the checkpoints. They thanked the Producer and Kensuke and went out the back and proceeded back to their hotel.

Up in Lake Kizaki the Suzuhara's were huddled around the TV watching events unfold at Yokota. The phone next to the couch started to ring bringing a much-needed distraction to what was going on.

"_Hello, Suzuhara residence."_

"_Hikari, it's me put Misato on the phone," _Asuka said in her usual demanding fashion.

"_Misato, your mom is calling."_

Misato perked up and ran over to the phone. She grabbed the phone and proceeded to talk in German. Not in a show off sort of way but whenever they talked and it was just them they spoke in German.

"_Momma where are you? Are you and daddy okay?" _She asked franticly.

"_We're okay leibchen. How have you been have the Suzuhara's been treating you well? Have you been a good girl?"_ Asuka asked.

"_Yes ma'am the Suzuhara's have been real nice especially Mrs. Suzuhara. Momma I want to go home," _She said trying not to sound like she was whining.

"_Oh I know leibchen, I want to go home to but not before we come get you. We can't leave Tokyo yet but as soon as we can we'll be up there to get you and take you home till then you keep being good and do what the Suzuhara's tell you to okay."_

"_Okay momma, I will. I love you."_

"_I love you too Leibchen, and your daddy says he loves you too. I have to go you keep making me proud. I love you so much, goodbye leibchen," _she said before reluctantly hanging up the phone.

"_How did two people like us make such wonderful child?"_ Shinji asked as he held Asuka close.

"_I gave up trying to figure that out along time ago,"_ she replied wiping the tears from her eyes.

Shinji turned her towards him, wrapped his arms around her and gave her a deep kiss while people rushed by them in all directions and police, rescue, and military vehicles drove pass on the street.

1300 Tokyo III NERV Headquarters

Markus, Kelly, and Albrecht were being held in an executive break room while the rest of NERV attempted to get a handle on the events that were unfolding at Yokota. Yukino was generous enough to allow them access to a TV and allowing them free access to the vending machines.

"So these must be like those expensive peanuts you find in high end hotel mini-fridges," Markus said as he finished off a pack of peanuts from the vending machine.

"This may be the executive break room but it's not Yukino's personal break room. Those are probably just ordinary peanuts," Albrecht explained.

"Jerk, I was trying to make the best out of our situation," Markus replied.

"How can you both be so calm with all that has been going on?" Kelly asked mildly shocked.

"Being calm is all we can do at the moment. Also being stuck here is rather boring. Honestly I don't have the energy to be worried anymore," Albrecht explained.

"Well I don't know about you but I plan on getting out of here, and I will unless I get some real food," She added.

"Kelly I couldn't agree with you more but as stated earlier we could get out of here especially with all the confusion, but we wouldn't be able to get far what with all the backed up traffic, the roadblocks, the tracking devices in the vehicles, and trigger happy guards ready to shoot everything and anyone on sight," Markus reiterated.

"So you've given up?" She asked now more pissed off.

"Relax we have a contingency plan," Markus added.

"What contingency plan?" She asked.

"Before we got here we were given a list of scenarios and contingencies for each. This falls under terrorist attack with being captured. Before we were asked to turn over our phones I sent out a message to certain members of the team. Gabriel included. Thanks to the exquisite news coverage I got a signal from one of the team members who gave a signal to stay put. An hour later Gabriel was shown being treated by on ambulance near the scene. So the team is intact. Now we wait for the outsiders to get together and come get us," Albrecht explained.

"Al, have I told you lately that you're awesome?"

"No you haven't."

"Well you're awesome."

"Thank you."

"I give up. So according to your plan we sit and wait for your friends to come get us?" Kelly asked.

"That and we have to be ready to make the extraction easy. They'll give us a signal and once they do we start making our way out of the building. I think I got a good escape plan figured out but I'll be honest I wish I had studied the building more," Markus added.

"Were you able to come up with something based on what you saw?" She asked.

"Yeah, I usually have a good memory when it comes to places and locations,"

"Alright I'll take your word for it then," she said as she sat down.

"Hey listen to this," Albrecht interrupted as he turned up the TV.

"_Ladies and Gentlemen we have a new development in the terrorist bombing," _The anchorwoman announced.

"_We are going to show the video uncut and we would like to point out that this video appears to have been made before the bombing in that they are able to accurately explain what happened but they are also vague in their descriptions. Again this network has just obtained this footage and we are showing it uncut," _with that they cut to a person in silhouette.

"_Citizens of Tokyo III we are known as The Survivors of the Third Impact. Our goal is the complete and total destruction of all that remains of the Evangelion Units, and any remnants of the Angels. We believe that in doing this will prevent any future attacks by they angels. Our goal is not to harm any innocent person; we just want the destruction of the Evangelion Units, and the remains of the Angels. We've had previous success with the destruction of Unit 2 and the eventual destruction of any and all accompanying data. Today's attack was hardly enough to destroy Unit 1 but it was enough to send a warning. We are in Japan and we will stop at nothing until our goal is met."_

Everyone at NERV and everyone who was ever associated with the Evangelion Units at one point or another stood in silence. Despite what the person on the video said they all couldn't help but think that they too were a target of this group; The Survivors of the Third Impact. But the biggest question was, who were they and who was their leader?  


* * *

I'm back and I'm about to introduce a new character. Will they be from the show, or someone I just came up with? Stay tuned and I promise there will not be another two year gap.


End file.
